Shropshire school heads' anger at new GCSE tables

The Government changed the rules so that only the first exam taken by a pupil counts in the GCSE tables.

The rules previously stated that retakes of the exams could be counted, enabling schools to put forward higher grades for the tables.

Headteachers say the change in rules, which came halfway through an academic year, means that the figures do not accurately reflect the actual achievement of students.

Alex Raeside, headteacher of Sundorne School and Sports College in Shrewsbury, said staff, governors and year 11 parents decided pupils who had been prepared and engaged in sitting an exam in November should be allowed to sit it.

He said: "That first grade was used to motivate the students to work even harder in order to improve the grade in the summer.

"We all felt that we would do what we felt was right to support students educationally rather than protecting a league table position."

The school paid a price in its policy because while in reality 58 per cent of pupils achieved five A*-C grades including English and maths, the official tables published a figure of 43 per cent.

Mr Raeside said: "Not only does this make comparison of results difficult for parents, it also emphasises the difficulties faced by all schools in managing its exams policy.

"This can be seen in the national picture where schools such as Eton and Harrow have achieved zero per cent in the published league table. This does question the validity of the league tables and thus the usefulness to parents in school selection"

Dave Hill, headteacher at Burton Borough School, said: "The Government's move to publish the November results without any consideration of what the students finally achieved was a difficult situation for a successful school to manage. We made the decision to do the best for our young people rather than prioritising our league table figures, and continued with our planned entry policy.

"Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of all of this was that the decisions were taken by the Department for Education only weeks before the students sat their exams, and without any consultation with teachers.

"The published figures simply don't reflect what the students at Burton Borough have achieved.

"Our decision to sacrifice our published figures was unanimously supported by parents, students, governors and every member of staff. Everyone in our community deserves the recognition for our students' achieving 60 per cent rather than the 46 per cent published in the league tables. I am very proud that we made this decision."

Lee Hadley, principal at Abraham Darby Academy, spoke this week of how his school's published figure of 42 per cent "bore no relation" to the actual figure that saw seven out of 10 pupils gaining 5A*-C qualifications including English and maths.

He said: "Ofsted's own annual report explains the downturn in national results as being due to what it calls a 'period of transition'. It goes on to urge schools to remain focused on their core purpose of preparing pupils 'successfully for the next stage of their lives'.

"This is what we did, as strategies and courses that motivated youngsters and delivered success were simply removed from the educational landscape.

"It was not just a shifting of the goalposts but a change of sport. Our published results bear no resemblance to the reality."

Sue Lovecy, headteacher of St Martins School in Oswestry, which was judged to be the worst in Shropshire for GCSE results, also said she had taken the decision to allow pupils to take GSCE exams early with the understanding they could resit them if necessary.

And Alan Doust, of Community College in Bishop's Castle, wrote in the Shropshire Star of his anger, saying: "We do not enter pupils on a whim and last year we were in the process of carefully preparing about half our pupils to take their English and maths GCSEs in November as part of a whole-school plan to raise standards.

"Whilst many schools, for their own reasons, decided to withdraw their pupils, The Community College and about three other secondary schools in Shropshire decided to continue with their planned approach despite the Government's interference."

Geoff Pettengell, executive principal of Shrewsbury Academies Trust said: "Schools have been impacted by the decision to maintain early entry. Unfortunately the remarkable achievements of schools are not being recognised fully in the current league tables."

The Government said the changes were made to prevent schools entering children for exams several times, rather than coaching them properly for a single GCSE exam.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan claimed ministers had "raised the bar".

Russell Hobby of the National Association of Head Teachers said: "The adverse statistics are due to the Government's constant changes to leagues tables and provide no indication of the actual performance of schools.

"Schools have been tripped up by last-minute changes, disproportionately affecting schools working with the most disadvantaged students."

Teaching union NASUWT said the continual upheaval burdened schools. Chief Chris Keates said: "It's unacceptable that schools, teachers, parents and children are subjected to this negative annual ritual."