By Chris Townsend, Head of Cheltenham College
Academic league tables were first introduced in England in 1992, under John Major’s ‘Citizens’ Charter’. They were intended to help parents to make choices about schools in an era when choice first being promoted as a means of raising standards. Many parents still choose schools based on league tables (in both maintained and independent sectors) and they do provide data that appears clear, and can then be used to rank schools.
Academic aspiration is crucial in any successful school and it is absolutely right that every parent should want their daughter or son to do their very best. This is an important skill to develop and working hard to do one’s best is a very good indicator for future success. However, this is not the same as saying that the best school is the one with the highest ranking in terms of exam outcomes.
Having inspected many schools over the past decade, I have seen schools with apparently outstanding results that are delivered by very able students despite unimpressive teaching. I have also seen schools with much less impressive headline results, where the teaching is exceptional and gets the very best out of each and every individual.
Academic ‘value added’ is a far better measure of the experience that your child is likely to get from their academic efforts at school and as a parent, it doesn’t really matter what grades other children are getting, if your own child is going to underperform. Value added measures the average improvement that each student makes, relative to national performance, and at Cheltenham College we are so proud that our Value Added in the sixth form is significantly ahead of almost any schools that we compete with and in the top 5% of all schools nationally.
Hard work remains essential and a culture that encourages aspiration is crucial, but when this is underpinned by excellent and inspiring teaching then you get not only good results, but outstanding progress resulting in fabulous value added outcomes.
To learn more about life at Cheltenham College, we invite you to book a place at one of our upcoming Open Days on Saturday 10 October or Saturday 5 December, or contact our Admissions team to arrange a bespoke tour. We would be delighted to welcome you.
