Statistics about Good and Bad Schools

1. Introduction

2. The Labour Governments emphasis on Education

3. Comparing Two Different Schools

4. Conclusion

Introduction

When it comes to acquiring statistics about good and bad schools the most productive place to aquire information from is the OFSTED website at www.ofsted.gov.uk/ . This website is particularly useful in that it contains the inspection reports about the majority of schools in the UK. If specific school reports are required it is easier to use the government website at www.ukschoolsearch.co.uk/ .

The Labour Governments emphasis on Education

The Labour Government under Tony Blair has put a great deal of emphasis on the education system. This quote is taken from the Labour Party Website at www.labour.org.uk :

"When Labour was elected in 1997 it was on a promise to make education our top priority. We made that promise because we believe that a good education is the best start that can be given to any child. We believed we could not create a more prosperous country and a more just society unless we extended the opportunity of a good education to all. We knew that the changes needed would take time, resources and determination. We have used all of these to begin to create the kind of education system that Britain needs."

On the same website information is available about Labour's achievements since coming to power. It is possible to type in your postcode and find statistics about what exactly Labour has improved since 1997:

"In Lancashire, there are 585 infants in classes larger than 30 (1.60% of pupils) - down from 17712 (42.44% of pupils) in 1997."

Comparison of Two Schools

I will now attempt to compare two different schools, which achieve very different results and attempt to explain why one has been recommended to be shut down and the other has been given exactly the opposite references from inspectors. (All information taken from www.ukschoolsearch.co.uk/  & www.ofted.gov.uk/  .)

Kingswood High School - Hull

Eltham College - Greater London

The differences between these two schools in terms of results is startling. Kingswood recently stated that they would pay any pupil £100 if they achieved 5 grade A* - C at GCSE. Eltham would ask pupils to leave their school who achieved 5 grade A* - C. The minimum requirement for the 6th form being 6 B grades at GCSE.

There are many different reasons for the fact that Eltham achieves  a 99% success rate for pupils getting 5 (or more) grade A* - C at GCSE and Hull gets just 3%. The main reason lies in the fact that Eltham College is not only an Independent School but it also selects it's pupils by way of an entrance exam. These fundamental differneces between the schools will always result in Eltham getting higher results. There is little tha Kingswood can do to catch up schools such as Eltham. They can only improve their own results.

Conclusion

In this website I have attempted to show some statistics about secondary schools and in so doing identify some of the reasons behind the differences in performance. I have also attempted to show that the labour government has placed a great emphasis on the educational system and its improvement. I hope this has been an enjoying read!