Methodology

This guide contains profiles of 2,000 of the most academically successful schools in the United Kingdom. Information is derived from many sources, including the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) in England, (or the equivalent government departments and inspection bodies, in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland), the Independent Schools Council and the Independent Schools' Inspectorate.

Examination information for state secondary schools is derived from the schools themselves and is published ahead of the official government figures due to be released in the coming weeks and months. This enables us to use the most up-to-date information possible provided by the schools for parents seeking places for their children in September 2009 and 2010.

State secondary schools (655 schools)

In advance of official statistics, the reported results of A-levels and GCSEs taken in the summer of 2009 are used to rank state secondary schools with sixth forms in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. These results have been gathered by an exclusive Sunday Times survey.

The Sunday Times ranking, covering the top 500 state secondary schools, is determined by the percentage of A or B grades obtained at A-level (which is given a double weighting in the overall ranking) and the percentage of A* and A grades obtained at GCSE.

We have included in the state secondary school rankings, three schools which have previously appeared in our independent school table. They are The Belvedere Academy, GDST; Birkenhead High School, GDST; and Colston's Girls School, Bristol. All have taken on Academy status, abolishing fees, and taking their funding from the Department of Children, Schools and Families instead. While, like all academies, they retain considerable autonomy, the change in their primary source of funding has resulted in their reclassification.

Where schools enter their pupils for the International Baccalaureate (IB) and the results have been released to us, we take IB grades 7, 6, and 5 as equivalent to A and B at A-level.

Separate IB rankings are published for 8 schools for which we have gathered results from this summer's IB examinations. Results have been gained through an exclusive Sunday Times survey.

Separately, there is a ranking for the top 50 state secondary schools without sixth forms. Here again, the results have been gathered by an exclusive Sunday Times survey. This ranking is determined by the percentage of A* and A grades obtained at GCSE. Where schools have supplied us with details of AS examinations taken by Year 11 children, we have converted the AS grades to GCSE equivalent using the following formula: AS-level grades A and B = GCSE grade A*; AS-level grade C = GCSE grade A.

Sixth form colleges are ranked on their performance in public examinations in 2006, 2007 and 2008. The total number of level 3 points earned on average in each year is aggregated to produce an overall three-year score for each college. Rankings based on performance in 2006, 2007 and 2008 alone can be produced by clicking on the relevant columns displayed in the league table.

In Scotland, the top 50 state secondary schools are ranked separately, according to pupils' performance from 2006 to 2008 in Standard/Intermediate 2 grades and Higher/SCE Higher exams, with the latter double-weighted. Schools are ranked on the proportion gaining five or more credit-level passes at Standard (grades 1 and 2) or Intermediate 2 (grades A-C) by the end of S4 and five or more Higher passes at grades A to C by the end of S6. Both percentages are expressed as a proportion of the S4 roll.

Independent secondary schools (510 schools)

Fee-paying independent secondary schools are ranked on the same basis as state secondary schools: the proportion of all A-levels resulting in A or B grades (double-weighted) and the proportion of GCSEs resulting in A* or A grades (single-weighted) in summer 2009. Most examination results have been provided by the Independent Schools Council (www.isc.co.uk) specifically for this publication and were accurate at October 13, 2009.

Some schools this year withheld the release of their examination results to the ISC due to large numbers of appeals or an objection to the use of the information in league tables such as those produced within Parent Power. Many of these schools were contacted by The Sunday Times and have subsequently released their results to us. In some instances, the results we publish have been taken direct from school websites and press releases. The few that continued to withhold results from publication are listed under "Results withheld" on the league table homepage.

Three schools which until 2007 appeared in our independent secondary school league tables are now in our state school listings following their transfer to academy status and the abolition of fees. Please see note under state secondary schools above covering The Belvedere Academy, GDST; Birkenhead High School, GDST; and Colston's Girls' School, Bristol.

Where schools enter their pupils for the International Baccalaureate (IB), we take IB grades 7, 6, and 5 as equivalent to A and B at A-level.

Separate IB rankings are published for 28 schools for which we have gathered results from this summer's IB examinations. Most results have been gained through an exclusive Sunday Times survey, the remainder have been gathered from school websites.

Independent secondary schools in Scotland are ranked according to the examination system followed by the majority of pupils. For those following the Scottish system, schools were ranked on the proportion of all Higher and Advanced Higher examinations taken by pupils across all years resulting in A or B grades (double-weighted) and the proportion of Standard Grade 1s and Intermediate 2 grade As (single-weighted) gained by S4 pupils only in summer 2009. Twenty-eight schools were ranked by this methodology. A further seven schools were ranked on the same basis as English independent secondary schools using A-level and GCSE attainment. Of these seven schools, Loretto School, Musselburgh and Glenalmond College, Perth, entered all their upper sixth-form students for A-levels. St Leonards School, St Andrews entered all its upper sixth-form students for the International Baccalaureate. The remainder entered variable proportions of their most senior students for A-levels. This proportion is in excess of 50% in all cases except for the Edinburgh Academy, which is ranked on English-system results (despite less than one-third of S5 and S6 presentations being for A-level) on account of it entering its pupils for GCSE only in S4.

Separately, there is a ranking for the top 50 independent secondary schools with no or small sixth forms (with 10 or fewer A-level candidates). Their rankings are determined only by the percentage of A* and A grades obtained at GCSE and the rankings ignore the GCSE performance of all schools with larger sixth forms.

State primary schools (550 schools)

The top 500 primary schools in England are ranked by the proportion of 11-year-olds attaining Level 4 or above in national curriculum key stage 2 tests from 2006 to 2008. This ranking includes all schools where an average of 20 or more pupils took the tests in English, mathematics and science. Although key stage 2 Level 4 results from prior to 2006 are also often published on the website, they are not included in the league table calculations.

The primary school league table features the results gained by the junior department of Birkenhead High School, GDST, which ceased being a fee-paying independent school and became a state-funded academy from September 2009.

There is a separate ranking, using the same criteria, of the top 50 small primary schools in England, where an average of more than 10 but fewer than 20 pupils took the tests in English, mathematics and science from 2006 to 2008.

Independent preparatory and junior schools (250 schools)

This is the definitive ranking of independent preparatory schools, drawn from those schools which submit their 11-year-old pupils for the national curriculum key stage 2 tests. Although not all independent schools use these examinations, about 600 do and our top 250 ranking is based on the proportion of children achieving Level 5 or above between 2006 and 2008. This data was obtained from the Department for Children, Schools and Families under the Freedom of Information Act, having been withheld by many schools in the past.

Birkenhead Junior High School, GDST, which has previously appeared in our prep school rankings is now ranked with state primary schools in view of its transfer to state-funded academy status from September 2009.

School profiles

School profiles are clearly set out to deliver key information to parents. Each profile includes basic contact information - including postal address and telephone number.

The age range and number of pupils is provided, together with the entry gender and where relevant the gender of the sixth form. For senior independent schools with prep schools and vice-versa, the number of children shown usually includes pupils attending both schools.

Fee data for independent senior schools for day and boarding pupils (where relevant) is also published. Where possible, the fee level published includes the cost of lunches for day pupils.

In addition to the most recent examination data on which the schools are ranked, we have provided historic examination information for schools that have featured in recent previous editions of Parent Power.

So, for state and independent secondary schools, this additional information can cover A-level and GCSE results from 2008, 2007, 2006 and 2005; for primary and prep schools, this can cover Sat key stage 2 results from 2003 onwards. In Scotland, for independent secondary schools following the Scottish examination system, this can include Higher and Standard Grade/Intermediate 2 results from 2008, 2007 and 2006; for Scottish state secondary schools, examination data from 2005 forwards may be available.

For the vast majority of schools, it is possible to access school websites and the latest school inspection reports from the Parent Power school homepages, correct at November 1, 2009. These inspections have been carried out, mostly in the past six years by: Ofsted (www.ofsted.gov.uk), in England; Estyn - Her Majesty's Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales (www.estyn.gov.uk); Department of Education in Northern Ireland (www.denidata.nics.gov.uk/appInspRptsSearch/IRMain.aspx); HM Inspectorate of Education in Scotland (www.hmie.gov.uk); and the Independent Schools Inspectorate (www.isi.net). It is important to note the date of the inspection and to bear in mind that issues or concerns raised might have been addressed subsequently, particularly if the inspection is not recent. Where follow-up reports have been issued further to the main inspection, the link on the school home page should take you to an interim page from which both the original inspection and follow-up documentation may be accessed. If in doubt about the continued validity of comments made in inspection reports, ask the school.

All school homepages and the examination and contact information contained therein can be printed out in hard copy by clicking the relevant button.