ABOUT THESE TABLES

General

These Tables give information about results for secondary school pupils who are at the end of KS4 - i.e. those pupils in Year 11 in the 2004/05 school year. The Tables show results for all maintained and independent schools in England. For each local authority (LA), schools are listed alphabetically, with special schools shown separately at the end of each list.

If your child already attends a school listed in the Tables, you may be interested to see how its results compare with other schools in the area, and with the LA and national averages. You can also see, at a glance, how each school's results have changed over the past four years.

You may want to discuss the results with teachers at your child's school - how do they feel the school is performing, and what plans do they have to improve levels of achievement? How can you support the work of the school? What more can you do to help your own child do better?

Choosing a school

If you are considering local secondary schools for your child, you will find helpful information in the Tables about the performance of schools in your area. But the Tables provide only part of the picture of each school's overall achievements.

You can find more information in school prospectuses, by checking for reports of recent Ofsted inspections and, of course, by visiting schools and talking to teachers.

How to read the Tables

The Secondary School Achievement and Attainment Tables give more than one measure of a school's performance. These measures can be considered alongside each other when evaluating the performance of a school. The Tables show:

• the total number of pupils at the end of KS4 (i.e. in Year 11);
• the value added measures (KS2 to KS4 and KS3 to KS4);
• the percentage of pupils at the end of KS4 who gained the following levels in the National Qualifications Framework: Level 2 (five or more GCSE grades A*-C, or equivalent) and Level 1 (five of more GCSE grades A*-G, or equivalent). The percentage who gained at least one qualification is also shown;
• the average point score per pupil for the school;
• bar chart showing results for the past four years;
• the number and percentage of pupils at the end of KS4 with special educational needs (SEN), with and without statements;
• information on authorised and unauthorised absence; and
• background information on each school, including numbers and percentages of pupils with SEN, both with and without statements, for the whole school.

The following sections describe and explain:

• pupils and qualifications reported (page x);
• the value added measures (page x);
• what is meant by 'pupils at the end of KS4' (page x);
• year on year comparisons (page x); and
• the absence records (page x).

The sections on value added measures, results for pupils at the end of KS4 and year on year comparisons explain how to read the Tables and what conclusion can be drawn.

You will find more information on the National Curriculum and its key stages, the National Qualifications Framework and the points system used to report different types of approved qualifications in the 'More Information' section.

How the tables were compiled

Results for pupils at the end of KS4 came from the awarding bodies concerned, and were also checked with schools. The schools themselves provided results on graded exam results.

Results and value added measures were checked or provided by schools in early October. Some reviews requested by schools of grades awarded to pupils were not completed in time to affect the information included in these tables. It is therefore possible that, for some schools, the published information would have been different had the results of the reviews been available earlier. If you have an interest in a particular school's results, you should check with the school.

Information about authorised and unauthorised pupil absence and background information (such as the school name and address) was provided and checked by schools.

If the school did not confirm that it had checked its examination results, the initial 'R' appears after its age range. If the school did not confirm that it had checked its background information, the initial 'B' appears after its age range. If both 'R' and 'B' are present, the school did not confirm that it had checked either.

Schools that have opened after January 2005 will be published with contextual data only as we have no school census data available to report the results against.

The 'More Information' section also contains explanations of terms and abbreviations, where the information in this booklet comes from, and how to get paper copies.