WINDERMERE St Anne's has hit out at this year's performance league tables for statistically downgrading its GCSE results. Some 91.3 per cent of pupils gained five or more A* to C grades in 2002 but in the tables, published in The Westmorland Gazette, the pass rate was calculated as 68 per cent.

Yvonne Bradbury, of the independent school, complained that the Government statistics were based on the number of

15-year-olds taking their GCSEs in 2002. As a result four Year 10 pupils (the exams are sat by Year 11 pupils) were included in the statistics and eight Year 11 pupils who took the exams were left out because there were too old to be included. These pupils were mainly overseas students taking the exams in their second language.

Sedbergh School teacher and marketing manager Paul Wallace-Woodroffe echoed concerns at St Anne's. He said the Government's statistics were "seriously skewed" because they only presented the achievements of pupils who were 15-years-old at the start of the school year in which they sit their GCSEs.

"Sedbergh School, like all independent schools, seeks to maximise the potential of its pupils. As such, the brightest are stretched - often entering examinations early, while others may sit examinations later. Preparatory schools are particularly careful that pupils moving to senior school do so when they are at the right age of both mental and physical maturity."

At GCSEs in 2002, all of Sedbergh's GCSE students achieved five or more A* to G GCSEs and 96 per cent got five or more A* to C. The pass rate in the performance tables was 83 per cent and 77 per cent respectively.

February 7, 2003 10:00