Foreword by the Secretary of State for Education and Employment

This is the fifth year that we have published performance tables and it is four years since Further Education sector colleges were first included. Since their introduction the tables have proved to be a valued source of information on school and college performance.

This is one of 24 regional booklets covering secondary schools and Further Education sector colleges in England with students in the 16 to 18 age range. Each booklet summarises, by school and college, students' achievements in GCE A level and AS examinations and in specified advanced and intermediate vocational qualifications.

These performance tables show the high standards that schools and colleges can achieve. They can encourage teachers and students to aim at the standards of the highest-achieving schools and colleges, locally or nationally. And they provide information for parents and students to help inform choice of what and where to study.

The performance tables are, of course, only one source of information about the achievements of schools and colleges. More detailed information can be found in individual school and college prospectuses, and in the information that colleges are required to publish locally about their work and achievements. You can get copies of these from the school or college - every entry in this booklet contains an address and telephone number.

A parallel set of tables summarises the performance of students in secondary schools. The Secondary School Performance Tables 1996 report results in GCSE, GCE A level and AS examinations and in specified vocational qualifications. You can order copies of any of the booklets - Secondary School or School and College - by ringing 0800 24 23 22. You can get a full set of the tables on electronic disk covering England as a whole from that number, and they are also available on the Internet.

Rt Hon Gillian Shephard MP

Secretary of State for Education and Employment