NEW ways of presenting results for secondary schools have revealed pupils generally make good progress at local schools.

Pupils’ Key Stage 4 results, released by the Government last week, were based on a completely new system of monitoring schools, called Progress 8.

For the first time, this year schools were not judged on the proportion of pupils scoring at least five C grades at GCSE, including in English and maths.

Instead, Progress 8 looks at the progress a pupil makes from the end of primary school to the end of secondary school. It compares pupils’ results with the achievements of other youngsters with the same prior attainment, and measures performance across eight qualifications.

The Government says this measure is fairer, because it reflects that children start secondary school at different levels of academic ability.

In Evesham and Pershore, Prince Henry's High School and Pershore High School were among those considered to have made the best progress for their students.

Tony Evans, head at Prince Henry's High, said he was delighted with the success.

He said: I would like to offer my congratulations to the students, staff and parents on these wonderful achievements.

"It is also important to note that whilst the performance tables provide a measure of academic performance, so much more happens in schools which unfortunately the tables cannot capture – for example extra-curricular achievement in the Arts, Music, Sport, Duke of Edinburgh Award and so on."

He also welcomed the new measures and said they recognised the attainment and progress made by every single student in the five years leading up to their GCSE exams.

In the Cotswolds, Shipston High School, The Cotswold School, in Bourton-on-the-water, and Chipping Campden School, all gained better grades for pupils than those who started at the same point nationally.

Will Morgan, from The Cotswold School, said: "I'm delighted with the results which were a reflection of the sustained dedicated performance of staff, with the support of parents and talented students."

The school has also received a letter from Rebecca Clark, the regional school commissioner for the South West, congratulating staff on its results.

Schools where pupils had made less progress than others at similar starting points were The De Montfort School in Evesham, Chipping Norton School and Winchcombe School in Cheltenham.

These schools scored a negative Progress 8 figure – but were still above the Government’s floor standard. The Government does not consider schools to be under performing unless they fall below a score of -0.5 on Progress 8.

Schools that are considered under-performing face intervention, and could be taken over.

Guy Nichols, head at The De Montfort School, said the change to way figures were reported had reflected unfairly on the school.

He said: "The progress 8 is really good because it includes every child which is long over due in education.

"However, we had a phenomenal improvement, up 18 per cent from last year in the A*-C figure which probably puts us in the top five per cent of most improved schools.

"It's an exceptional improvement."

He also pointed out 34 students had taken vocational courses in Animal Care, Motor Vehicle Engineering, Construction or Hair and Beauty with 33 passing their courses, 14 gaining merits or distinctions, and one student given a top college award for achievement.

However, these students received negative Progress 8 scores because the figure is weighted in favour of more academic subjects.

He said: "We are trying to give students the best possible curriculum for them to fulfil their potential but then we are being told you must do history, geography or a modern language.

"These students are disenfranchised and I believe that could be very dangerous."

How are schools now measured?

Schools are now measured on how pupils do across eight subjects.

These include English and maths, which are given double weighting, three other EBacc subjects, which include history, geography, sciences and languages, and three other GCSE subjects or non-GCSE subjects from a government-approved list.

What is the Progress 8 measure?

The Progress 8 score measures the progress of pupils from the end of primary school to the end of secondary school.

It compares the attainment of pupils at a particular school against the attainment of all pupils nationally who started at a similar academic level.

The greater the score, the greater the progress that was made during the pupils' time at secondary school.

Nationally, schools should receive at least a 0 score, which means pupils have made expected progress.

Each GCSE grade is equal to a score of one, so if a school receives an overall Progress 8 score of 1.0, pupils at that school have, on average, achieved a grade higher than other children who started at similar levels.

What is Attainment 8?

The attainment 8 figure represents the average achievement of the school's pupils across eight subjects. Schools with scores above 50 are considered to be doing well.

A level results

Figures released showing A level results have also changed this year.

The average total point score per student is no longer included with the emphasis on the schools' average point score per academic entry.