Credit: This story was first seen on the Cambridge News
Cambridge’s secondary state schools are being out performed by its independent schools and other state schools in Essex, according to the Sunday Times Parent Power ranking.
Four Cambridge independent schools feature in the top ten for the East of England, including the Stephen Perse Foundation that tops the list, Cambridge News reports.
However, Cambridge schools are absent from the regional top ten secondary state school list which is dominated by schools in Chelmsford, Colchester and Southend.
The Sunday Times ranking, now in its 24th year, provides parents with information to compare schools’ performances with others in the same town, local authority or nationally.
Rankings are determined through the percentage of students gaining A* to B grades at A-level this year and the number achieving A* and A grades at GCSE.
The Stephen Perse Foundation in Cambridge has climbed 22 places on its 2015 ranking to reach 18th nationally.
Tricia Kelleher, principal of The Stephen Perse Foundation, said: “We are very proud of our ranking as the best Independent secondary school in the area. Our students work extremely hard to achieve such high grades and their commitment to learning and thinking independently is commendable.
“With 97.6% of our A-level students achieving A* to B grades and the Foundation sitting in the top 5% for International Baccalaureate results globally, our students have gone onto careers around the globe and with 86.1% of our GCSE students having achieved A* and A grades, they are set for a great future.
“To sit at the top of a list of schools around the region and at number 18 of 2,000 schools around the country is a great achievement and we look forward to seeing our students continuing their successes.”
In second place among the region’s secondary independents, The Perse School has the best GCSE results in the East of England with 94.3% of students attaining all A*s or As.
It has slipped eight places in the national ranking to 24th, conceding the top regional position to the Stephen Perse Foundation.
A spokesman for Cambridgeshire County Council, said: “Cambridgeshire’s state funded secondary schools are performing well against the regional and national averages. In 2016 the percentage of pupils achieving GCSE grades A*-C in both English and Maths was 67.3%, compared with 63.6% for the Eastern Region and 58.7% nationally.
“It is no surprise that selective independent and grammar schools appear to do better because all of Cambridgeshire’s secondary schools are fully comprehensive. Teachers work really hard to give all pupils a great education and we have one of the lowest permanent exclusion rates in the country. The local authority works in partnership with all schools, challenging and supporting them to ensure the best educational outcomes for our children and young people.”