Introduction

These performance tables provide an invaluable store of information for parents on the achievements of pupils in their local secondary schools and how they compare with other schools in the area and in England as a whole.

Each school's entry gives information on achievements by pupils who reached school leaving age in the 1998/1999 school year in GCSEs and GNVQs and in a range of other vocational qualifications. You can also see at a glance how each school's results have changed over the past 4 years. Some schools have provided additional information, on the results of pupils in Year 11 regardless of their age, in order to give a more complete picture of their examination successes.

Each entry also gives information on rates of pupil absence from school, both with permission and without. This helps throw light on the amount of time pupils are out of school, as part of the Government's drive to improve school attendance.

The tables provide a range of background information on each school, including its address and telephone number. If the school has a sixth form its results can be found in the separate school and college (16-18) performance tables.

You will find the information helpful if you are choosing a secondary school for your child. If your child already attends a secondary school, you will be interested to see how its results compare with other schools in the area and in the country as a whole. You may wish to discuss the results with teachers at the school. How do they feel the school is performing, and what plans do they have to improve their pupils' results? How can you support the work of the school, and what more can you do to help your own child do better?