THE new-style secondary school league tables for England were released last week and they appear to shed a slightly different light on the achievement of Hampshire schools, focusing not just on the highflyers but on the attainment and progress of all pupils.

In the past schools have been ranked according to the proportion of pupils who achieved five GCSEs at grade A*-C, including English and maths.

Now they are graded on attainment eight, which spans pupils’ achievement over eight subjects, with English and maths, which are compulsory, worth double points.

And they are scored on progress eight, which shows how well a school is serving its pupils by looking at progress made between the end of Key Stage 2 (end of primary school) and the end of Key Stage 4 (GCSE).

While Hampshire schools, and in particular those in the Alton area, have always ranked highly in the league tables, this year, while attainment remains strong, with Hampshire scoring 47, which is above the average of 46.3 for state-funded schools in England, it is rated ‘below average’ for progress with a score of -0.14.

Progress eight scores fall roughly between minus one and plus one and the numbers are then placed into five bands, ranging from ‘well above average’ to ‘well below average’.

And it is these bandings that are said to be of most use to parents.

Upbeat about the attainment results, Peter Edgar, executive member for education at Hampshire County Council, said: “Hampshire’s pupils, their families and schools can be very proud of what they have achieved together. I am delighted to see that young people in Hampshire do so well during their school life and, year on year, achieve good GCSE results, with their attainment levels exceeding the national average on all measures.

“It is particularly pleasing to see these results when you consider that the class of 2017 had to contend with the additional challenge of a new GCSE curriculum and a radical change in grading for maths and English where the bar was set far higher than in previous years.”

On the subject of progress, he added: “While the Department for Education tables indicate that, for a small minority of Hampshire schools, student progress is below the national standard, this is not necessarily a fair reflection of their quality. Often, the reason that the progress eight score appears to be lower than those of some schools in neighbouring authorities is because Hampshire children were at a higher level of attainment at the starting point for this measure and had less of a journey to make such good progress.

“Hampshire County Council supports schools all year round to help drive high standards of performance and good outcomes for pupils. For the students, what counts in the end are the GCSE grades that they achieve, since these will help them move on to further education, training and employment and this is where they do very well indeed.”

Alton’s two state-funded secondary schools are well placed in the Hampshire table, with Amery Hill achieving an average 0.08 for progress and 52.6 for attainment, and Eggar’s an average -0.18 for progress and 49.9 for attainment.

Commenting that the performance tables had endorsed Ofsted’s finding that students at Amery Hill School continue to receive ‘a strong education for life’, headteacher Elizabeth Wylie said: “The new performance tables do only tell one part of the story. Historically, the headlines about students’ GCSE exam success has focused on the outcomes of the top performers. What the new government performance tables provide is a view on the progress which all students make and the value which schools add over the five years of secondary education.

“This measure is referred to as progress eight and it is on this measure that students at Amery Hill School have performed particularly well.”

And she added: “We are very proud of all our students who have achieved academically and especially those who may have fought their own personal challenges to be successful.

“Our ethos is one that values all our learners and their successes, both in outcomes and in personal progress. We will continue to provide a high-quality education for the young people of Alton and the surrounding area.”

On behalf of Eggar’s School, headteacher Patrick Sullivan said: “We are very proud of our students who left last summer, they worked extremely hard and achieved some excellent results. Our attainment eight and our grade five and above in English and maths score placed us among the top schools in Hampshire.

“At Eggar’s, our aim is to prepare students for their future, wherever life takes them, so we look at the whole person and their personal goals.

“We are really proud that 96 per cent of students have chosen to stay in education or have found employment, which is testament to the broad and inclusive curriculum and opportunities available to them at Eggar’s.”

He added: “We recognise that these tables provide an important snapshot of a school’s performance. It is, however, a shame we have to wait so long for the validated data. The Department for Education’s new measures will evolve, of course, and I believe these will become more accurate over time.”