County’s GCSE Results Improve

THE number of Oxfordshire pupils getting five good grades at GCSE, including English and maths, has improved and is better than the national average for the second year running.
According to school performance tables published yesterday, 47.5 per cent of the county?s students achieved five or more A*-C grades including English and maths, compared with 45.8 per cent for all schools nationally and 44.1 per cent for state schools nationally.

The top performing state school in the county on this tougher measure was Chiltern Edge School in Sonning Common where 65 per cent of candidates achieved five good grades including English and maths.

The percentage of pupils getting five good grades at GCSE has also improved from 54.4% in 2005 to 56.6% in 2006. The national average for state schools is 57.5%.

Some schools made significant improvements in 2006 with Carterton Community College, Chiltern Edge School, Oxford Community School and St Birinus in Didcot all raising their grades by at least ten percentage points or more.

Thirteen schools are in the top twenty five per cent nationally on ?Contextual Value Added?. This is a score which measures the progress pupils have made between 11 and 16 taking into account factors such as gender, special educational needs, ethnicity, deprivation, English as a second language and how often pupils have moved schools.

Bartholomew, Blessed George Napier, Carterton Community College, The Cherwell, King Alfred?s, Langtree, Matthew Arnold, St Birinus, St Gregory the Great, Wallingford, the Warriner and Woodeaton Manor all achieved good ?contextual value added? scores.

A-level

Faringdon Community College and The Cherwell in Oxford were the best performing county schools at A-level and are in the top 15 per cent nationally.

Faringdon Community College achieved the highest score where students averaged 948.6 points.

The Cherwell School achieved the top score per entry at A-level of 227.8.

The county average point score is 712.2, compared with the national figure of 709.0 for comprehensive schools and 721.5 for all schools and further education colleges.

Councillor Michael Waine, the county council?s Cabinet Member for School Improvement, said: ?It is good to see that Oxfordshire schools have moved forward again at GCSE and A-level. There are some great individual successes and pupils and teachers deserve credit for all their work.

?The overall picture is very promising and we look forward to building on the progress made to raise standards still further.?