Schools perform well in school league tables

The number of pupils achieving five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C including maths and English was 48.5 per cent, the national average was 45.8 per cent.

Wiltshire's performance in 2005 was 49 per cent.

A total of 58.2 per cent of pupils in Wiltshire passed five of more GCSEs at grades A* to C in any subjects, slightly below the national average of 59.2 per cent. In 2005 Wiltshire achieved a figure of 57.7 per cent.

The figures for 2005 relate solely to 15-year-olds' achievements and are not a direct comparison.

Wiltshire's results in A- levels was above the national average.

The average points score per pupil in Wiltshire was 741.6 compared to 721.5 nationally.

The average points score per examination entry was 209.3 in Wiltshire compared to 206.2 nationally.

Ms Godfrey said: "I am pleased to see that this year's results show schools in Wiltshire are still attaining good results and our performance overall is above average for England at both GCSE and A-level.

"I am also pleased that the progress our young people made between 11 and 16 is good but I recognise that there are areas for improvement. We have set ambitious targets for the future.

"There have been some outstanding individual pupil and school successes and much improvement."Gerrard MacMahon, the head teacher of one of the best performing schools in the area, says pupils should do even better next year.

Sheldon School in Chippenham is the best performing comprehensive in Wiltshire when comparing A-level point scores per candidate.

An impressive 59 per cent of its GCSE pupils scored A* to C grades including English and Maths.

Mr MacMahon said: "I am particularly pleased with the GCSE results as this is the first time they have been measured in this way, showing pupils who have bagged results in the core subjects as opposed to making up points in optional subjects.

"It is much less open to manipulation and pupils with English and Maths have a better grounding to go on to higher education.

"The figures are largely meaningless unless read in context along with all the other data. You need to look at the whole range before getting the full picture.

"The value added rating is particularly important because it shows how the school is helping every single child, whatever their ability."

Gordon Trafford, head teacher of The John Bentley School in Calne said: "I am delighted at both performance and progress at John Bentley.

"As I was able to report in the summer our 2006 five A* to C GCSE results were our best ever and the 43 per cent of students achieving five A* to C grades including Maths and English was again a significant leap forward.

"We are delighted with the large number of excellent individual sixth form performances where students achieved the highest grades.

"In addition we were equally delighted for a number of students whose modest performance represented a real achievement for them."

Colin Smith, head teacher at Hardenhuish School in Hardenhuish Lane, said: "We are really pleased with the GCSE results and very pleased with the individual scores and glad to see that many more will be going to further education.

"Results in the sixth form are very good and we are very pleased with our students. Some of them are outstanding."

On the perceived rivalry with Sheldon School in Chippenham, he said: "We work very hard to do the best for our own pupils. It would be wrong to talk about ourselves as rivals."

Patricia Schubrook is head teacher of Abbeyfield School in Chippenham. Pupils there began to study A-levels for the first time when the school opened a sixth form in September 2006.

She said: "I am delighted with the results and very pleased for the pupils of this school.

"This is another stage passed which leads on to further education.

"I would like to thank all the pupils and parents for all the hard work that they have put in to get these results."

Marcus Chapman, assistant head at The Corsham School said: "Our results were fantastic and we are very pleased.

"They are a testament to how hard the pupils and staff have worked throughout the school.

"We had the best results ever for GCSE and our A-level scores were very, very good too."

Wootton Bassett School had a successful set of results and that was reflected in its county ranking of 19th for GCSE results and 12th in A-levels.

Assistant head teacher Brian Western said: "We are very pleased with another year of high achievement as reflected by the AS and A-level results."

He said that they had also also been very pleased with the latest set of GCSE results.

TIM Gilson, acting headteacher at Malmesbury School said he was thrilled with the students' performance.

"We are really pleased to see Malmesbury comes out as the highest non-selective comprehensive on the GCSE scores," he said.

"We had a very strong performance at A-level as well. It has been an excellent year and congratulations go to the students and staff for their outstanding performance."

A massive 97 per cent of pupils at Grittleton House School gained at least five GCSEs between A* and C grades, including English and maths.

Headmistress Kate Whitney said: "Once again, the results reflect the excellent achievements of the pupils."

Len Spiers, headteacher of Bradon Forest School, Purton, was pleased with the ranking of 18th for GCSE results.

He said: "Our continuing high performance at GCSE this year is due to first class teamwork, and an emphasis on ensuring that all students, irrespective of ability, set their sights high in all aspects of school life, academic, cultural, social and sporting," he said.

Lavington School was ranked 21 out of the 40 schools in the county for the percentage of pupils who got five A* to C grades at GCSE, and head teacher Martin Watson said the school was performing well.

He said: "The performance tables also include a three year comparison and our performance in English and maths is significantly above the figures for Wiltshire and England.

"We achieved 52 per cent of pupils getting five A* to C grades at GCSE including English and maths compared to 48 per cent in Wiltshire and 48 per cent nationally.

"We knew the results would be lower in 2006 due to the year group which had a larger number of challenging children than we normally have." Mr Watson was pleased that English and maths grades were now being included in the tables.

He also said the added value of the school which measures pupils performance from aged 11 to 16 was slightly above what was expected.

Devizes School is ranked 28 in the county for GCSE scores with 39 per cent of pupils getting five passes at A* to C level including in English and maths. It is ranked 19 out of 26 for the A-level points score per pupil.

Dauntsey's School at West Lavington switched to teaching an International GCSE last year which the Department for Education and Skills does not recognise in the school league tables. A total of 98 per cent of pupils achieved five IGCSEs at A* to C grades including English and maths.

The headmaster of Dauntsey's had great delight in telling his pupils that the school was the second worst school in Wiltshire for its GCSE results in the national school league tables.

Headmaster Stewart Roberts also confidently predicted the 756-pupil school would maintain its position next year.

However, the standard of teaching has not declined at the school. Instead the Department for Education and Skills does not recognise the International GCSE, which Dauntsey's switched to teaching in maths last year.

The league tables, place Dauntsey's 39 out of the 40 schools in Wiltshire for GCSE results.

Of the 103 pupils at Dauntsey's who sat IGCSEs last year 98 per cent achieved five IGCSEs, including English and maths, at A* to C grades. Sixty one per cent of pupils gained an A* or A in IGCSE maths.

Mr Roberts said: "I told all the pupils that I was proud to be the headmaster of the worst performing school in Wiltshire, according to the league tables."

He said: "League tables can be spun for anything you like. Your school can come top in one league table and 200th in another.

"We abandoned the GCSE syllabus for mathematics and replaced it with the more rigorous IGCSE which does not rely on coursework and is generally considered a better preparation for A level."

Swindon's secondary schools are on the up according to the latest league tables released by the Department for Education and Skills.

This year the town has been ranked as 94 out of 150 authorities, an improvement on last year when it slumped to 109.

The Commonweal School in Old Town and Warneford School in Highworth have jointly recorded the best GCSE results.

At both schools 56 per cent of pupils reached the benchmark of five A* to C grades including English and maths, with Bradon Forest in Purton hitting the same figure.

Keith Defta, Commonweal head said: "I am of course delighted with the results and it shows how much hard work the staff and students put into the exams.

"In fact our year 11 group last year was a cracking group and I'm expecting the same good results from our current students."

He added: "As in all of Swindon's schools, we do support our students in the run up to GCSEs with extra revision workshops and even classes which include their parents, which I think helps."

Warneford headteacher, John Saunders, believes hard work and determination led his students to success.

"I'm extremely pleased because our students and staff worked very hard in the run up to the exams in class and during revision sessions."

He added: "This year the tables have changed but I think it's a good thing to have English and maths included because they are both extremely important subjects."

For the first time the contextual value added measure takes into account students' gender, age and social and ethnic backgrounds among other features influencing results.

The Ridgeway School in Wroughton has come out on top in this with a score of 1007.3.

It is closely followed by Churchfields School with 1006.5.