Wales school ratings 'not tables'

14 July 2011 Last updated at 11:30 GMT School league tables were scrapped in Wales in 2001 Comprehensive schools in Wales will be placed into performance bands from this autumn.

Education Minister Leighton Andrews said the grouping of schools is not about "naming and shaming or creating a divisive league table".

It will help ensure resources are directed to schools who need them most, he said.

Unions are opposed to school league tables being reintroduced in Wales, but have welcomed the banding alternative.

Unlike league tables ranking the best school down to the worst, banding is expected to group schools into just four or five bands, measured on the level of support needed.

Mr Andrews said the bands will be a tool for driving improvement.

"The national school banding system is a tool to help us be effective in driving improvement across the board," he said.

Promise

Continue reading the main story

The proof of the pudding will be in the extra support that schools will receive to improve their performance”

End Quote Philip Dixon Association of Teachers and Lecturers Cymru "The most important aspect of banding will be the support, challenge and sharing of best practice that follow."

"It is about grouping our schools according to a range of factors to establish priorities for differentiated support and identifying those from whom the sector can learn."

Anna Brychan, director of the National Association of Headteachers Cymru, said: "We welcome the fact that the minister is making clear that the purpose of the banding system is to identify the level of support and challenge required by individual schools to help them achieve what we all want.

"There is now a climate of expectation out there in our schools that this process will provide level of expert, accessible and specialist support for schools that many find hard to find now, and that this will be available consistently and to an equally high standard across the country.

"We very much hope that this promise can be realised."

Dr Philip Dixon, director of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers Cymru, said they were prepared to give a cautious welcome to the banding proposals and to accept the minister's assurances.

"However, the proof of the pudding will be in the extra support that schools will receive to improve their performance," he said.

"The success or otherwise of the school banding proposals will be judged on that."

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University fee increases for Wales

11 July 2011 Last updated at 15:54 GMT Universities say they are striving to ensure students from all backgrounds can still attend

Eight out of 10 universities in Wales will charge maximum tuition fees of ?9,000 per year for some or all their courses, it has been announced.

The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales said every institution has had their plans to increase fees from September 2012 accepted.

Universities' initial proposals were all rejected last month.

The National Union of Students in Wales said the decision was a "sad day for higher education in Wales".

Students from Wales will have the increase in fees paid for them by the Welsh Government, which now faces a bill of around ?280m a year to finance the grants.

It is thought most Welsh students will pay roughly ?3,400 a year.

Continue reading the main story ?9,000: Cardiff, Bangor, Aberystwyth, Swansea, Glamorgan, Newport (some ?8,250), Uwic, Trinity Saint David (for undergraduate teacher training in Welsh and English)?8,500: Swansea Metropolitan (exc art & design courses, which are ?8,750)?5,850-?7,750: Glyndwr University (?6,643 average) Source: HEFCWFirst Minister Carwyn Jones said the government was confident it could pay for the tuition fees policy.

Applicants from European Union countries will also be eligible for the subsidy, though students from England, Scotland and Northern Ireland will pay the full rate.

The University and College Union (UCU) urged institutions to be cautious on how much they charge for courses.

It is concerned that charging ?9,000 a year would be off-putting for some students.

"These courses provide a lifeline to many people trying to move up the social ladder, and for them to be put off by higher fees would be disastrous," as spokesman said.

Continue reading the main story

Chad Collins is a lower sixth-former at Ysgol Gyfun Bryn Tawe, and is hoping to study physiotherapy at Cardiff University.

"I don't really mind about the fees. It's a case of whether I do well in my exams, whether I am willing to go for the degree in Cardiff. With fees. fair enough, that the Welsh Government will pay most of it, but again, it's quite daunting for most students who have a poorer background.

"At the end of the day, I'm really motivated to go to university no matter what the fees are. It's just a case of what my results are like on results day. I find that no matter what degree I do, I'll still have to pay anyway after graduation in university." He added: "The cheaper the fees, the better it is for students to be able to go from their A-Levels straight into their degree in whichever university and it will be better off for the students."

Ben Knight-Gregson is studying for a masters degree in physics at Swansea University.

"There's always going to be scholarships and bursaries and such and if you actually go out and look away from university there are many scholarships and bursaries from research institutes and different charities etc. I'm of the opinion that it's great trying to get everybody as equal an opportunity to come to university as they can, and obviously with the fees being risen that could cause an issue for some people, but I don't see what the problem is with regards trying to encourage more people from poorer backgrounds when everybody's given the opportunity to have the same financial assistance if needs be."

However, Higher Education Wales (HEW), the representative body for universities in Wales, welcomed the approval.

Director Amanda Wilkinson said: "This has been a very testing but worthwhile process.

"Universities have emerged with stronger plans to deliver for students and prospective learners from backgrounds with little tradition of going to university."

In rejecting all initial applications, HEFCW said it encouraged institutions to set more ambitious targets.

Universities were told they need to meet certain requirements, including on equal access and improving the student experience.

Professor Philip Gummett, chief executive of HEFCW said: "It is clear from the fee plans that institutions will use a high percentage of their additional income to benefit students, from bursaries for students from disadvantaged communities to investing in new technology."

The Office for Fair Access is due to announce on Tuesday whether universities in England have had their fee plans accepted.

Full amount

Based on the Welsh Government's calculations, this would see about ?50m a year of its budget going to universities in England, as students from Wales take their grants over the border.

The policy is costed on the basis of fees being ?7,000 on average.

The total cost of the policy over nine years would be ?1.5bn although this would be offset by a 35% cut to university budgets.

However, questions have been asked about its affordability if average fees are nearer ?9,000.

Education Minister Leighton Andrews said it had been a robust process but he expected the performance of universities to be monitored.

"The Welsh Government expects institutions to provide value for money, support access to higher education from under-represented groups and to deliver an excellent student experience," he said.

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Wales tuition fee confusion raised

28 June 2011 Last updated at 05:45 GMT By Ciaran Jenkins BBC Wales Education Correspondent A Welsh Government spokesman said there was "no confusion" and "operational level discussions go on all the time".

The body implementing Welsh Government policy on subsidising university tuition fees did not understand how it would work, it has emerged.

Questions are asked in emails from the chief executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW).

He warned in one that nobody outside the Welsh Government understood the education minister's public statements.

A Welsh Government spokesman said there was "no confusion" and "operational level discussions go on all the time".

The information came to light after a freedom of information request by the Welsh Liberal Democrats.

Baroness Jenny Randerson, a Welsh Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords, said the emails showed HEFCW "did not understand the minister's maths".

She said that while she supported anything which helped students, there was a question about how the funding would be sustained.

"I think this was a good idea, [but] basically it looks to me as if it was drawn up on the back of an envelope, as it depends on so many variables and things you can't predict," she said.

In November, Education Minister Leighton Andrews announced that students from Wales would qualify for a new grant when tuition fees increased in September 2012, meaning they would pay no more than they pay now.

An email from HEFCW chief executive Prof Philip Gummett in February said there were questions to resolve

Mr Andrews also announced that "the income of Welsh higher education institutions will be at least the same in real terms in 2016-17 as it will be in 2012-13".

However, an email from HEFCW chief executive Prof Philip Gummett to a Welsh Government official on 1 February this year said there were "urgent" questions to resolve over the policy.

'Clarify and testing'

"We in HEFCW remain unable to understand the formulation that is being used officially to explain how the new arrangements are to be funded," he wrote.

"This is after a number of conversations with officials in the period since the minister's statement of 30 November, and after serious efforts on our part.

Continue reading the main story

We have no reason to believe that the Welsh Government is anything other than committed to a competitively and sustainably funded university sector in Wales”

End Quote Higher Education Wales "Our council shares this view and is anxious that the necessary clarification be achieved urgently.

"Let me be clear that I am not questioning whether there is in fact enough funding provision to cover the cost of the new system. We believe that there is. The issue, rather, is about how it is being presented publicly..."

In a later email on 9 February, Prof Gummett wrote: "Let me say that within HEFCW we believe that we do now understand the modelling that lay behind the minister's statement on 30 November."

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: "The email exchanges between Welsh Government officials and HEFCW are simply practical discussions about how to implement the tuition fee policy approved by the National Assembly, which involves changes to complex and technical financial and administrative systems.

"These operational-level discussions go on all the time."

'Extremely difficult'

A HEFCW spokesperson said the correspondence "forms part of a standard process of clarifying and testing our understanding of the detail of the Welsh Government policy for student tuition fees".

Meanwhile, Higher Education Wales, which represents universities in Wales, said: "Until we know if fee plans in Wales or access agreements in England have been approved on 11 July 2011, and understand any effect of the new system in Wales or England on cross-border flows of students within the UK, it will be extremely difficult to accurately estimate the long-term cost of the new graduate contribution and HE [higher education] funding regime in Wales.

"We have no reason to believe that the Welsh Government is anything other than committed to a competitively and sustainably funded university sector in Wales and we wish to work with the Welsh Government to that end."

BBC Wales revealed in February that the cost of the tuition fee grants would be ?1.5bn over nine years, based on the Welsh government's assumption average fees would be ?7,000 in Wales and England.

It later emerged the cost could rise to ?2.3bn if fees were nearer ?9,000 on average.

Five Welsh universities have so far submitted fee plans to HEFCW, with each hoping to charge ?9,000 per year.

The remaining five universities have not declared what fee level they intend to charge but all ten proposals were initially rejected by the funding council.

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University has 'let Wales down'

22 June 2011 Last updated at 08:04 GMT By Ciaran Jenkins BBC Wales education correspondent Wales' national university, the University of Wales, has let the country down, says Education Minister Leighton Andrews after a damning report

Education Minister Leighton Andrews says the University of Wales has let down higher education in Wales and brought the nation "into disrepute".

His criticism comes after a watchdog's report told the university to review its worldwide college links.

BBC Wales found the links included one with a Malaysian pop star with bogus degrees and a college in Bangkok college said to be operating illegally.

The university says it is developing a new international strategy.

Prof Roger Brown, a higher education expert, said it was the "most damning" report on a university's overseas operations he had seen.

The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) delayed its publication of the university's institutional review - a six-year health check - while it conducted its investigations.

The institutional review was completed before BBC Wales' revelations were broadcast and reached judgments of 'confidence' in the university, although it did identify weaknesses in its external validation processes.

The university must now draw up an action plan to address the issues.

The QAA's investigation follows the BBC Wales probe into colleges in Malaysia and Thailand offering courses leading to the university's degrees.

Last November BBC Wales Week In Week Out found that a Malaysian college was run by Fazley Yaakob, a pop star with two bogus degrees, while another in Bangkok was operating illegally.

The QAA's report found the university had not run proper checks while setting up partnerships with the colleges in question - a process known as validation.

It said the university "missed the opportunity to be circumspect" about Mr Yaakob, who claimed to have a doctorate in business administration.

'Continuing concerns'

Its approval of a fashion college in Thailand was judged "inadequate" and "flawed".

Continue reading the main story

In 2008 I discovered the University of Wales was "validating" courses at a bible college in the United States, whose own degrees were illegal.

The university said it would learn lessons from the revelations and engaged external consultants to help them review their overseas partnerships.

In November 2010, I revealed further cases where the university seemed to be putting its reputation on the line: a link with a Malaysian pop star who had bogus degrees and a college in Bangkok that was said to be operating illegally.

This time the higher education watchdog, the QAA, decided to investigate.

The publication of its report is unlikely to make pleasant reading for students who still receive University of Wales degrees here.

After all, the degrees handed out at UWIC, Trinity Saint David, Swansea Metropolitan, Glyndwr and Newport are equivalent to those earned by students in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

A Welsh Government-commissioned report said in March the university must change radically or shut its doors.

The severity of the QAA's findings means that process cannot be ignored.

The QAA investigation revealed that the University of Wales staff member sent to inspect the college had no recollection of being there.

The report also considered the university's links with a business college in Singapore in which two sets of owners disappeared, leaving students in the lurch.

Mr Andrews told BBC Wales: "The university has brought the brand of Wales into disrepute and I think it has let higher education in Wales down and it has let Wales down. It's unacceptable.

"There have been continuing concerns about the University of Wales' international operations, going back several years.

"I want to see action from the chair of the council at the university because all of this has happened on his watch.

"What is he doing about it and what is he going to do in the future to ensure that he exercises proper oversight of the management of the University of Wales."

In total, the university has 130 partnerships in 30 overseas countries, with 20,000 people studying for its degrees across four continents.

The outcome of the QAA investigation is the latest blow for the university, following the publication of a report in March which said it should be wound down and closed if other plans for its future fail.

The review, commissioned by the Welsh Government, said it had become too reliant on income from validating courses in overseas colleges.

Continue reading the main story

I would say this is one of the most serious reports to have been produced on a university in recent years”

End Quote Prof Roger Brown Higher education expert The University of Wales is the degree awarding body for five institutions - UWIC, Trinity Saint David, Glyndwr University, Swansea Metropolitan and Newport.

However, according to the QAA, students at these universities are "commonly unaware of the university (of Wales) and believe themselves to be acquiring their degrees from the institution they have attended."

Cardiff, Swansea, Bangor and Aberystwyth have all withdrawn from the university in recent years.

Prof Brown said the university had "some very very serious issues to answer".

"It's a serious challenge and one the university has to address with the utmost seriousness if the university is to retain its reputation in this field.

"I have never heard of a case where the QAA has asked a university to review all its partnerships in such number, that is certainly unprecedented.

"I would say this is one of the most serious reports to have been produced on a university in recent years."

'Serious shortcomings'

Prof Philip Gummett, chief executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW), said the report identified "a considerable range of serious shortcomings" in the university's conduct.

"There needs to be an urgent and effective response," he said.

"We shall also take these developments into account in our consideration of current merger discussions involving the University of Wales."

The University of Wales said it welcomed the institutional review report's finding that confidence could be placed in the soundness of its management of the academic standards of its awards and the quality of learning opportunities available.

A spokesman said it was making "many transitional and transformative measures".

"In order to continue to safeguard standards and the student experience the University of Wales will, in partnership with its proposed merger institutions, develop a new international strategy which is embedded within Wales," he said.

Over the last six months there have been concerns expressed about the validation operations of the University of Wales.

The officers of the university have reviewed the validation activity and have come to the view that the current model is no longer fit for purpose and consequently has already imposed a moratorium on all validation developments.

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Wales: Revamp call over GCSE data

23 May 2011 Last updated at 18:55 GMT The Welsh Government has dismissed the performance tables as 'extremely simplistic' Calls have been made for a shake-up of how schools are run in Wales as variations are revealed in GCSE results between schools with similar backgrounds.

Conservatives and an experienced school inspector questioned the role of local education authorities (LEAs) in administering schools.

The Welsh Local Government Association called LEAs "cost effective".

Leighton Andrews called for a "school banding system".

The Welsh Government places schools in "families" - groups of about 10 - where pupils have similar levels of family income and special needs.

In one case a school's results are 42% better than another in the same family, a BBC Wales freedom of information request revealed.

The Welsh Government has dismissed the tables as "extremely simplistic".

Continue reading the main story

The BBC have chosen to use the data released to them to generate a simplistic league table, ranking schools based on a single performance indicator.

I remain absolutely committed to the belief that there is no role for league tables in the improvement agenda for Wales. They can be divisive and misleading and do not in themselves promote improvement. If league tables were the key to high performing schools then England would be at the top of the PISA scores. But it is not - by some distance.

In my statement on 2 February I emphasised the importance of using robust data to drive improvement within schools and across the system. Robust self-evaluation and target-setting using performance data plays a vital role in promoting continuous improvement. For this reason, we have provided all maintained primary and secondary schools with the all-Wales core data set. This provides key information about school performance in a consistent, transparent and accessible format.

To strengthen accountability of the system I am working with officials to introduce a national system for banding schools. This is not a return to league tables based on crude measures of pupil performance in public examinations. The school banding system will allow learners, their parents and carers, education professionals, governors and local authorities to understand a school's performance in context.

Extracts from statement by education minister Leighton Andrews

Kirsty Williams, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats said parents should have "the right to access information about the performance of their child's school" to ensure they are reaching theit potential.

She added it was sometimes "difficult and unfair" to compare schools across the country.

"League tables have rightly been criticised in the past for not giving an accurate picture of the overall performance of the school and the standard of its teaching. What parents ultimately what to know is: 'is my child's school improving?'," she said.

Plaid Cymru AM Simon Thomas said the party "does not believe that it is inevitable or acceptable for some schools to be good and some schools to be bad," adding that the Welsh Government "must take action" to ensure that pupils do not leave school unable to read, write or count.

"Plaid has made the case for a radical overhaul of the education system in order to get education right for all children, in all areas of Wales," he said.

Mr Thomas added that Labour plans to reintroduce school league tables "could mask the reality of underperformance and further undermine underperforming schools".

"It is not for parents through competition to improve schools but government and LEAs through action and direction," said Mr Thomas.

Conservative AM Angela Burns said the performance figures were "no real surprise", although league tables had to be treated carefully.

She is calling for local education authorities (LEAs) which administer schools, to be removed from the funding process.

"We would directly fund the schools, we would cut out the middle man, we would cut out the LEAs," she said.

"I'm quite sure they're not wildly pleased about that but it's a fact.

"When I was chair of the finance committee in the last term of the assembly, we did a number of reports on foundation phase, we did one on school grants that go into schools throughout the whole of Wales.

"The amount of money that gets sucked in by all of these people taking slices of this money...

"If you were to directly fund them [schools] from the Welsh Government... and give them a very clear set of outcomes that they had to achieve with that money, you would actually have proper money going where it is needed."

Continue reading the main story

We've known about this - leaders in Wales, education ministers, the union leaders - we've all known it but there's been a failure to tackle it”

End Quote Gwynoro Jones School inspector School inspector Gwynoro Jones said schools in Wales should be administered by four education boards rather than LEAs.

"It [school performance data] tells us what we've all known for a long, long time, but unfortunately it has been brushed under the carpet for various reasons," he said.

"There are significant variances in performance of pupils in schools in Wales, a wide range of variation in relation to the performance of teachers, head teachers, local authorities.

"The system and everything within it needs an entirely new revamp.

"We've known about this - leaders in Wales, education ministers, the union leaders - we've all known it but there's been a failure to tackle it.

"But I have to say I'm quite encouraged by how [Education Minister] Leighton Andrews is starting his new role and I'm relying a great deal on his leadership on this."

'Systematic failure'

Mr Andrews hopes head teachers and governors will set ambitious targets for school improvement based on their performance against other similar schools.

He has said there is "systemic failure" in the school system and accused teachers of "complacency in the classroom".

In a speech in February, he suggested the Welsh government had its own plans to make some of this information public.

The body that represents councils in Wales, the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA), said the best way to improve schools was to have better teachers and better support.

Steve Thomas, WLGA chief executive, said schools were a difficult service to run, but LEAs were cost effective and they worked.

"I find the Conservative proposals very interesting because what they are basically saying is that you can improve schools by cutting them by between 12% and 20% [in funding] and you can offset that by abolishing LEAs," he said.

"So making people redundant in LEAs costs nothing ,does it?

"And that would mean you have to run everything from Cardiff then."

He said abolishing LEAs would mean the assembly would have to carry out tasks such as consultations on school closures, running school transport and looking after special educational needs.

"We will be delegating 85% of our budgets down to schools. Some schools are complaining about that - they don't want to be purchasing these services," he added.

The Welsh Government has said it continues to oppose the publishing of league tables.

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT teachers' union, said: "The publication of these league tables is a reckless and irresponsible exercise.

"Schools which were 'top of the league' in the first list on Friday were languishing way down the second list by Monday morning.

"The information is not worth the paper its written on. However, it will have done untold damage to the morale and motivation of teachers and the confidence of parents in their child's school."

Following Friday's publication of schools' value added scores, it means BBC Wales has now made more information available on school performance than at any time since league tables were abolished in Wales in 2001.

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Wales: Teachers 'battle to find jobs'

20 May 2011 Last updated at 05:55 GMT Jessica Jones, 28, of Porthmadog, has made 20 job applications since leaving Bangor University and has still to get a permanent job

Only four out of 10 newly-qualified teachers in Wales land substantive jobs in primary or secondary schools after training, according to new figures.

The General Teaching Council for Wales (GTCW) said almost the same proportion of new teachers (37.5%) were having to rely on supply work.

In 2003, nearly seven in 10 (66%) secured a first job after qualifying.

The Welsh Government said teacher recruitment and the use of supply teachers was a matter for schools.

The GTCW said the number of new teachers landing their first job had dropped 6% over the previous year and was the continuation of a falling trend over the past decade.

It has drawn the figures from the Wales' teaching register, which has nearly 39,000 people registered as eligible to teach in state schools.

Continue reading the main story

Jessica Jones, 28, of Porthmadog, Gwynedd, has made 20 job applications since teacher training at Bangor University.

"It slowly seems to have been getting worse," she said.

"Not only are you competing with all the trainees of the 2011 cohort, you are also competing with just over a third of last year's cohort that haven't secured positions.

"I've already had my student debt from my first degree. I've had to take another student loan for this year.

"I can't live at home for the rest of my life.

If I can't secure supply work or a permanent position, then I will have to take office work or a bar job.

It should really be something I could fit around supply teaching, because you are called in at the last minute."

GTCW deputy chief executive Hayden Llewellyn said the figures came against a background of "a little fluctuation over the years".

He said: "There is now a very clear trend towards newly-qualified teachers failing to get substantive jobs and having to register with agencies in order to get temporary and intermittent work as supply teachers at various different schools."

The Welsh Government said Education Minister Leighton Andrews had recently announced a 20-point plan to reform education in Wales which included a review of teacher training in Wales.

A spokesperson said: "Alongside this work we are also evaluating the number of Welsh [teacher training] places we fund in the future.

"The latest (2008/09) published figures show that, for students completing [teacher training] courses in Wales whose teaching activity was known six months after graduation, 81% were in a teaching post, which includes supply work.

"A further 13% were seeking a teaching post and 7% were not seeking a teaching post."

The GTCW register has been published annually since 2002 and covers a range of indicators including the age, gender, ethnicity, qualifications and disability status of teachers and head-teachers.

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Wales GCSE performance revealed

23 May 2011 Last updated at 12:24 GMT By Ciaran Jenkins BBC Wales education correspondent The data is considered by experts to be among the most reliable indicators of school performance There are wide variations in GCSE results between schools the Welsh Government expects to be performing at a similar level, BBC Wales can reveal.

The Welsh Government places schools in "families" - groups of about 10 - where pupils have similar levels of family income and special needs.

In one case a school's results are 42% better than another in the same family.

The Welsh Government dismissed the tables as "extremely simplistic"

The details were obtained by BBC Wales under the Freedom of Information Act.

Following Friday's publication of schools' value added scores, it means BBC Wales has now made more information available on school performance than at any time since league tables were abolished in Wales in 2001.

Comparing exam performance within families of schools shows how a school measures up against others facing similar challenges.

It is considered to be fairer and more useful than ranking the country's best and worst performing schools based solely on exam results.

For example, Cowbridge High School in the Vale of Glamorgan and Hawarden High School in Flintshire, which both serve relatively affluent areas, are in one group - while Pen-Y-Dre High school in Merthyr Tydfil and Glyn Derw High School in Ely, Cardiff, which are both in relatively deprived areas, are in another.

The publication of the family groups gives parents access to information about their local school which is similar to the way it has been presented by the Welsh government to head teachers for the last two years.

Ambitious targets

Education Minister Leighton Andrews has said that from next year no school will pass an inspection unless its governors can prove they have analysed family of school data.

Mr Andrews hopes head teachers and governors will set ambitious targets for school improvement based on their performance against other similar schools.

He has said there is "systemic failure" in the school system and accused teachers of "complacency in the classroom".

In a speech in February, he suggested the Welsh government had its own plans to make some of this information public.

He said: "Data empowers people. "People need information on how their schools are performing.

"They also need to understand how their school is performing against the best in class.

"That doesn't mean a return to league tables. It does mean 'family of schools' data being available so that all schools can learn from the best in class and high standards can be set by heads and by governors."

Rank School Local authority % 5 A*-C inc. English/Welsh and Maths % Achieving 5 GCSEs (A* to C)

Nantyglo (school closed in Aug 2010)

BBC Wales has published details of the 20 family groups and two GCSE performance indicators for each school within them - the percentage of pupils in each school achieving five A* to C grades overall and also the percentage achieving five A* to C grades including the key subjects of English or Welsh and mathematics.

Both the Welsh and UK governments place an emphasis on candidates obtaining GCSEs in these subjects.

Below average

Overall, the percentage achieving this measure in Wales in 2010 was 49.4%, while in England it was 53.4%.

The information published by BBC Wales is not intended to present a definitive judgment on the performance of any given school and is based on the GCSE examination results of only the most recent year.

Continue reading the main story

This is an extremely simplistic league table ranking schools according to a single piece of data from one school year”

End Quote Welsh Government However, the publication of the results within family of school groupings gives parents more context than ever before when looking at GCSE performance at their local school.

For instance, the percentage of pupils achieving five A* to C grades including English or Welsh and Mathematics at Duffryn High School in Newport was 35%, considerably below the Welsh average.

However, the average within Duffryn High School's family group was just 31.6 %, which indicates it performed better than other similar schools.

The variation between the top and bottom performers within groups will be a concern for the minister, who has accused schools of "coasting".

The widest variation can be found in a family of schools with an average of 49.3% of pupils achieving five A* to C grades including English or Welsh and mathematics - 66% of pupils in Eirias High School in Conwy made the grade, while at Denbigh High School the figure was 24%.

The school has acknowledged the need for substantial improvement in English and mathematics at GCSE level and said there are strategies in place.

The NASUWT teachers' union said the publication of the league tables was a "reckless and irresponsible exercise".

The Welsh Government said Mr Andrews had made it clear that he wanted to raise school performance and standards and outlined how he would do it.

"Our policy on not publishing league tables is well-known," a spokesperson said.

"We do not believe that simplistic league tables have a role in the improvement agenda for Wales and that is why we scrapped them.

"This is an extremely simplistic league table ranking schools according to a single piece of data from one school year.

"To get a genuine view of a school's performance you need to take account of a range of data, look at progress and context - what the BBC have done simply does not reflect what any school improvement professional or teacher would recognise as an informed and rounded view of school performance."

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