Grammar schools add most value

Ripon Grammar - only target of a ballot - came in the top 20

Grammar schools dominate the league table of 14 year olds' test results in England.

They top the ranking for "raw" results - but also the one showing the newer "value added" measure.

This measure is a number based around 100 - higher being above average, lower being below.

It is intended to show how much pupils improved between this year's tests and those they took at the age of 11, at the end of primary schooling.

Teachers' organisations argue that the methodology is flawed and the tables are an irrelevance.

Care needed

The Department for Education and Skills says the smaller the number of pupils taking the test, the less confidence can be attached to the score.

For schools with 50 pupils or more, scores of 99.2 to 101 are "broadly average" - where there are 100 pupils or more, scores of 99.5 to 100.7 are broadly average.

A score of 103 and above puts a school in the top 5% of schools nationally whereas 97.5 or less is in the bottom 5%.

'Scrap the ballots'

Skegness Grammar School in Skegness, Lincolnshire, led the table with a score of 104.2. At the other end was Addington High School in Croydon, south of London, with a score of 95.4.

Skegness Grammar's head teacher, Andrew Rigby, said the government should now scrap the legislation which allows campaigners to force local ballots on the future of selection.

The law - which pro-comprehensive campaigners regard as weighted against them - has been used only once, in Ripon, where parents voted to keep the 11-plus.

Mr Rigby said it was time to remove the threat because the tables showed grammars gave a good education.

"I feel that if grammar schools are well represented in the upper reaches of the value-added league tables it proves we are doing a good job, and not just because we have the advantage of a selective intake," he said.

"We are delivering the goods with aplomb."

The table below shows the top 5% of schools nationally with their value added measure:

School	LEA	value added
The Skegness Grammar School	Lincolnshire	104.2
Reading School	Reading	104.0
Chatham Grammar School for Girls	Medway	103.9
The Judd School	Kent	103.7
Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys	Kent	103.7
Kendrick Girls	Reading	103.7
Dr Challoner	Buckinghamshire	103.6
Saint Gregory	Bath and North East Somerset	103.6
Southend High School for Boys	Southend-on-Sea	103.6
"Queen Elizabeth	Barnet	103.5
Simon Langton Girls	Kent	103.5
Weald of Kent Grammar School	Kent	103.5
King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys	Birmingham	103.5
Sir William Borlase	Buckinghamshire	103.4
Lancaster Royal Grammar School	Lancashire	103.4
Tunbridge Wells Girls	Kent	103.4
The Henrietta Barnett School	Barnet	103.4
The Tiffin Girls	Kingston upon Thames	103.3
Ripon Grammar School	North Yorkshire	103.3
Lancaster Girls	Lancashire	103.3
Lawrence Sheriff School	Warwickshire	103.3
Stratford-upon-Avon Grammar School for Girls A Specialist Language College	Warwickshire	103.3
Bennett Memorial Diocesan School	Kent	103.2
"The Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe"	Buckinghamshire	103.2
The Rochester Grammar School for Girls	Medway	103.2
Wallington County Grammar School	Sutton	103.2
Pate	Gloucestershire	103.2
Altrincham Grammar School for Boys	Trafford	103.1
Cranbrook School	Kent	103.1
John Hampden Grammar School	Buckinghamshire	103.1
South Wilts Grammar School for Girls	Wiltshire	103.1
King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls	Birmingham	103.1
Marling School	Gloucestershire	103.1
Colyton Grammar School	Devon	103.1
The Boston Grammar School	Lincolnshire	103.1
The Skinners	Kent	103.1
Ermysted	North Yorkshire	103.1
Newport Girls	Telford and Wrekin	103.1
South Wigston High School	Leicestershire	103.0
Watford Grammar School for Girls	Hertfordshire	103.0
Dane Court Grammar School	Kent	103.0
Watford Grammar School for Boys	Hertfordshire	103.0
Highsted Grammar School	Kent	103.0
The Blue Coat School	Liverpool	103.0
Oakwood Park Grammar School	Kent	103.0
The Crypt School	Gloucestershire	103.0
Skipton Girls	North Yorkshire	103.0
Rugby High School	Warwickshire	103.0
King Edward VI School	Warwickshire	103.0
Source: Department for Education and Skills