How is your secondary school performing? Latest school league results

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Just three secondary schools in Rochdale borough are exceeding the national standards for education, the latest government figures show.

Hollingworth Academy, Holy Family RC and CofE College, and Matthew Moss High School were the only  secondary schools in the borough to achieve above average grades at ‘Progress Eight’.

Kingsway Park High School, St Anne’s Church of England Academy, Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School, St Cuthbert’s RC High School, Siddal Moor Sports College and Brownhill School all ranked as ‘below average’ or ‘well below average’ whilst Oulder Hill, Wardle Academy, Middleton Technology School and Falinge Park High School all rated as ‘average’.

In 2018, 62% of pupils at Hollingworth Academy and 56% of pupils at Holy Family achieved a grade five or above in English and maths GCSEs. By comparison, just 19% of pupils at Siddal Moor Sports College achieved a grade five or higher, the lowest ranking government funded school run by the local authority.

The national standards look at pupils’ performance throughout secondary education (‘Progress Eight’), and additionally measures their achievements across eight GCSE qualifications (‘Attainment Eight’).

The new, tougher, standards have replaced the measure of ranking secondary schools by proportion of pupils gaining A* - C grades in five GCSE subjects, including English and maths. 

On the new grading system of one to nine (with nine as the top grade), schools are judged on a grade five. A grade four is the minimum pass level and is equivalent to an old C grade.

By region, Salford was the worst performing borough in Greater Manchester, followed by Wigan, Oldham, Bury and Tameside. In contrast, Trafford and Stockport were the best performing boroughs. 

Rochdale, last year’s third worst-performing borough in the region, has risen to fifth best this year.

Around 40% of schools in England are hitting the standards. 

Councillor Kieran Heakin, cabinet member for children’s services, said: “We have seen some great improvements across our secondary schools in terms of increases in the number of children attaining five or more standard passes and increases in those attaining a strong pass in English and Maths.

"We acknowledge that there is still some work to do with schools and we will continue to work closely and support them. It’s important that performance tables are not taken in isolation and our schools work tremendously hard in supporting pupils and raising attainment."

Mrs Karen Ames, Acting Headteacher at Holy Family RC and CE College, said: "We are extremely proud of all our students at Holy Family RC and CE College. As our mission states, we strive to be the best we can be and nurture the God-given talents of both staff and students.

"With this in mind, our Progress 8 Score for 2017/18 was +0.31, an improvement on the previous year and well above the national average for the second year.  However, we are not complacent and continue to work with our students to improve our performance year on year."

The Department for Education says the new progress and attainment standards take in greater account of a pupil’s progress and their basic ability. 

Progress Eight data is not published for independent schools and independent special schools, or breakdowns by disadvantaged and other pupils for independent schools, independent special schools and non-maintained special schools.

The tables use raw GCSE results from 2018 plus data from the Department for Education to evaluate how well pupils progress in school.

Hollingworth Academy, Matthew Moss High School, Kingsway Park High School, St Anne’s Church of England Academy, Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School, St Cuthbert’s RC High School, Siddal Moor Sports College have all been contacted for comment.