WILTSHIRE headteachers have bemoaned the fact that second sittings of GCSE exams have not been taken into account in school league tables, published by the Department for Education today.

Many of their results are down on last year, but would have been higher if they reflected the results of later attempts, with the heads saying that students should be congratulated for their perseverance.

The schools of Abbeyfield, Bradon Forest, Corsham, Devizes, Hardenhuish, John Bentley, Malmesbury, Royal Wootton Bassett, Sheldon and St John's Marlborough issued this statement: “The results published in the school league tables in January 2015 reflect only the first time any pupil took a GCSE exam.

"In our schools most of our pupils sat English and Maths GCSEs in November 2013 and then some of them took those exams again in June 2014, with many gaining higher grades.

"These higher grades are not reflected in the league tables for the schools but do count for the young people.

“As headteachers we firmly believe that the ability to have a second attempt, particularly at the most crucial subjects of English and maths, is in the best interests of our learners, giving them another opportunity to achieve the entry qualifications to sixth form and college courses.

“In some of our schools as many as 10 per cent of last year’s pupils increased their performance to achieve the higher grades which enabled them to access level 3 courses, for example A levels in September 2014.

“After all, in life we are rewarded if we stick at things and eventually succeed, for example in passing the driving test, which can be taken as many times as it takes.”

Abbeyfield School in Chippenham came 18th out of Wiltshire’s 58 schools for its GCSE scores in this year’s league table. This rises to 16th out of the county’s 30 state-funded schools.

Fifty-two per cent of pupils gained five or more A* to C grades at GCSE including English and maths, compared with 58 per cent the previous year.

It is not far off this year’s average for all schools in England - 53.4 per cent. This dropped from 59.2 per cent the year before.

For A-levels the picture was better for Abbeyfield, as the only school in Chippenham to raise its average point score - 689.5 rather than 671.5 the year before. The headteacher for the period of the results was David Nicholson, but his role was taken over in September 2014 by Ian Tucker.

Hardenhuish in Chippenham ranked 13th within Wiltshire for its GCSE scores (11th among state funded schools) as 61 per cent of pupils gained five or more A* to C grades at GCSE including English and maths, down from 69 per cent the year before.

Its average A-level point score was 900.5 points, only a slight fall from last year’s 904.3 points.

Sheldon School was ranked 12th within Wiltshire for its GCSE scores, or 10th taking into account only state funded schools.

They have also fallen since the year before, with 62 per cent rather than 72 per cent of pupils gaining five or more A* to C grades at GCSE including English and maths.

Pupils taking their their A-levels collected an average of 861.5 points, down from 947.6 points last time.

The changes have seen The John Bentley School’s percentage of pupils achieving five A* to C grades fall by 13 per cent.

Figures from the Department for Education see 47 per cent of pupils at the Calne secondary school achieving five or more A* to C grades including Maths and English, down from 60 per cent in 2013.

The John Bentley School sits 24th out of 58 schools in Wiltshire on the GCSE tables.

In A-levels, the average point score per student at John Bentley was 716.1 with 56 per cent of pupils gaining at least three A-levels at grades A* to E.