INTRODUCTION

These Tables provide information on the achievement and attainment of students in local secondary schools and how they compare with other schools in the area and in England as a whole.

The Tables provide information on:

• value added, which shows the achievements of pupils over a period of time. It measures how much value each school has added, based on the progress made by individual students from one stage of their education to another;
• attainment in GCSE (and equivalent) qualifications (e.g. vocationally related qualifications (VRQs), NVQs, Entry Level Qualifications (ELQs) etc) for students who reached school leaving age in the 2003/04 school year;
• rates of pupil absence from school both with permission and without; and
• background information on each school, including its name, address and telephone number.

The information contained in this booklet provides only part of the picture of each school's overall achievements. The Tables should therefore be considered alongside other important sources of information such as Ofsted reports, school prospectuses and Governors' Annual Reports. State schools - including City Technology Colleges - must provide parents with prospectuses on request. Independent schools normally do this as well.

These Tables cover the 150 Local Education Authority (LEA) areas in England. All secondary schools in the area are listed in alphabetical order, including:

• LEA-maintained schools;
• Academies;
• City Technology Colleges; and
• Independent schools.

Students who need more specialised teaching and facilities may go to special schools. If there are any special schools in the area, they are listed in a separate section at the end of the Tables.