About these tables

General

These tables give information about the achievements of secondary age pupils in public examinations and vocational qualifications, together with information on pupil absence and certain background information. The tables list secondary schools in each local education authority (LEA) area, including:

• LEA-maintained schools;
• grant-maintained schools;
• City Technology Colleges; and
• independent schools.

Schools are listed in alphabetical order. Special schools are listed in a separate section towards the end of the tables. The final section lists any school sixth form centres or consortia which operate in the area.

If your child already attends a school listed in the tables, you will be interested to see how the results compare with those of other local schools, and with the LEA and national averages. You will also be interested to see from the historic results how the school has performed over the last three years compared with this year.

You may wish to discuss the results with teachers at your child's school - how do they feel the school is performing, and what plans do they have to improve levels of achievement? How can you support the work of the school? What more can you do to help your own child do better?

Choosing a school

If you are considering which secondary school your child might attend you will find helpful information in the tables about the performance of schools in your area.

The information in these tables provides only part of the picture of each school's overall achievements. You can find more information in school prospectuses, governors' annual reports, OFSTED reports and other such publications. State schools - including CTCs - must give parents prospectuses if they ask for them. Independent schools normally do this as well. If you are considering whether to apply for a place for your child, you may want to make an appointment to visit the school in question.

How the tables were compiled

GCSE and GNVQ results for 15 year olds, and GCE A/AS level and IB Diploma results for 16-18 year olds came from the examining bodies concerned, and were checked with schools. Results for other vocational qualifications were provided by schools.

These results do not take account of any grades that were changed after the information was checked or provided by schools in early October 1997.

Information about authorised and unauthorised pupil absences and background information (such as the school name and address) was provided and checked by schools. If a school did not confirm that it had checked its examination results and/or background information, the initials 'E' or 'B' (or both) appear after the age range of the school.