Results: subject by subject

Sarah Ebnar's blog: School Gate

Queen Elizabeth School in Barnet, North London, is the leading state school in The Times league table of A-level results, showing that boys do not always perform less well than girls. It is among a clutch of selective schools to dominate the rankings.

Of the 139 boys at the school receiving their A-level results yesterday, 37 have confirmed places at Oxford or Cambridge.

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John Marincowitz, the head teacher, said that the success had been achieved without hothousing pupils or following the growing trend to study for four instead of three A levels.

Instead, pupils were expected to involve themselves with community projects, giving their time to hospitals, and other local schools.

“We don't make four A grades our mission. We offer a very broad educational experience. We aim to develop well-rounded responsible young men, who will make a contribution to society as well as having successful careers,” Dr Marincowitz said.

The selective intakes of grammar schools invariably means that they dominate exam tables. But there were strong performances yesterday from many comprehensives.

Fiona Hammans is head teacher of Banbury School in Oxfordshire — one of the 638 schools deemed by the Government to be underperforming because fewer than 30 per cent of pupils get five A* to C grade GCSEs including English and maths.

The comprehensive school has a mixed intake. This year almost a fifth of the A-level exams taken by its pupils were marked at a grade A.

Dr Hammans said: “We focused on quality at the top end. A number of our pupils come from a background with no tradition of higher education, but we have youngsters getting top grades and going to Russell Group universities.”

Being labelled as underperforming had the effect of knocking the confidence of the full school community, she said.

There was a strong performance from sixth form colleges. These include Peter Symonds College in Hampshire, where more than 63 per cent of the 1,235 students got grades A or B, to the fee-paying Cardiff Sixth Form College, where all ten pupils reached this target.

The league tables this year show a mix of independent and state schools, which submitted results for inclusion. The top three are all single-sex schools. Colyton Grammar School in Devon, a state school, is the top-performing co-educational school.

The raw results shown in these league tables provide only part of the picture of each school's overall achievements. But many heads believe that they provide vital transparency.

However, a number of leading independent schools disagree and are boycotting tables this year, claiming that they “poison” the education system, by encouraging teaching to the test.

Next week the Independent Schools Council will publish members' results. But up to 25 fee-paying schools, including Eton, St Paul's, Winchester and Radley, have refused to submit their A-level and GCSE results.

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