Foreword by the Secretary of State

The Department for Education is again publishing two sets of tables: secondary school tables, and tables for schools and colleges with students aged 16-18. As the updated Parent's Charter promised, this year's tables contain even more information. You will find in these tables data on GCSE and GCE A/AS examination results, on a number of other specified vocational qualifications, and on pupil absence and lesson time.

These tables, together with school prospectuses, will help parents to decide which secondary school they would like their children to attend. The separate 16-18 tables are designed to help young people and their parents make the right decisions about what and where to study after the age of 16.

Performance tables also serve a wider purpose. I strongly believe that parents, employers and the community as a whole should be able to judge how their local schools and colleges are performing. Regular publication of comparative tables makes a very important contribution to this process.

I hope you will find the tables useful and informative.

Rt Hon Gillian Shephard, MP
Secretary of State for Education