How to read the tables

This section explains how to read the information in the tables.

What background information is included

The tables give the following background information for each school:

• address and telephone number
• whether the school has a Charter Mark (if so, the symbol will be shown)
• what type of school it is (county, voluntary controlled, voluntary aided, special agreement or grant-maintained)
• the main age range (from this you can also tell whether the school has places for nursery age pupils)

What results are included

Eligible pupils

All pupils - including those with special educational needs - are eligible for assessment under the National Curriculum when they reach the end of Key Stage 2. Most will be aged 11 by the end of the school year. But some will be younger or older. The number of pupils who were eligible for assessment at the end of Key Stage 2 in each school is shown in the first column. The assessments took place in the 1998 summer term.

The results

The tables show the percentage of those eligible pupils who achieved Level 4 or above in English, mathematics and science in tests and as assessed by their teachers.

Level 4 is the level of achievement expected of pupils at the end of Key Stage 2. It is not an average in the sense that half the pupils should be above Level 4 and half should be below it.

Absent pupils

Some pupils were absent from school at the time some or all of the tests were taken in May 1998 - perhaps due to illness - and did not achieve a test level. Assessment by teachers took place over the school year. Almost all pupils, except for example those suffering a very long illness, were assessed by their teachers.

Disapplied pupils

The National Curriculum assessments have been designed to make sure that as many children as possible can be assessed. Parents cannot withdraw their children from any part of the National Curriculum. There are a few pupils, however, who do not have to follow the full National Curriculum. Usually this only happens if all or part of the National Curriculum is not suitable for a pupil because he or she has certain special educational needs. The assessments are designed to cater for most pupils with special educational needs.

Percentage of pupils absent or disapplied

Each school's results as set out in the tables are based on the achievements of all its eligible pupils, including any absent or disapplied pupils. The school's results may have been affected by eligible pupils who were absent or disapplied, because those pupils are included in the calculations but they did not achieve a result. To help you take this into account the number in each A/D column shows the percentage of eligible pupils who were absent or disapplied. The higher the percentage, the more the school's results may have been affected by pupils with no results.

Symbols

For some schools there are no results in the columns. Instead, the columns show a symbol:

X means that the Governing Body of the school failed to provide the information

< means that the school had 10 or fewer eligible pupils on roll in the 1997/98 school year. No results are shown for these schools, mainly because with such small numbers of pupils being assessed there may be a danger that individual pupils could be identified

+ means that the results are not available for reasons beyond the school's control - for example, the information has been destroyed in a fire at the school

Local and national averages

The top of each page shows:

• the average figures for all state schools in each local education authority area
• the average figures for all state schools in England

These figures include the results of eligible pupils in special schools.

School particulars

The columns in the `Background Information' table give further information about the school which you might find useful. They show:

• the total number of pupils of all ages, including nursery pupils, at the school
• the number of pupils at the school who reached the age of 11 during the school year. This number should normally be the same or nearly the same as the number of eligible pupils. If there is a big difference you may want to ask the school's headteacher for further information
• the total number of pupils with statements of special educational needs. These statements describe learning difficulties which pupils have, and specify the extra help or equipment which they need. Around 2% to 3% of school pupils nationally have statements
• the total number of pupils with special needs, but without statements. These are other pupils registered as having special educational needs but whose schools meet the pupils' needs without a statement

If a school has a large proportion of pupils with special educational needs, its assessment results may appear lower than expected.

Some pupils with special educational needs are academically able. But schools face challenges in achieving high results for many SEN pupils. The information on the numbers of SEN pupils in each school lets you take this into account when looking at the school's results.

How the tables were compiled

Test and teacher assessments, and background details such as the school's name and address, were checked with or provided by schools during November and December.

If a school did not confirm that it had checked its test and teacher assessment results, the letter R appears after the age range of the school.

If the school did not confirm that it had checked the background details, the letter B appears.

The national (England) and local education authority figures published in these tables differ slightly from those announced by the Department in the November 1998 Package of Pupil Information, and in the January 1999 Statistical First Release. This is because the figures were compiled in a slightly different way - for example, the treatment of the results of pupils in special schools varies in each publication.