The government’s league tables for advanced level 16-18 education were published last week, showing that Strode College in Street is:
- the best performing college in the South West for A Levels;
- the second best state school or college in Somerset for all advanced level qualifications, including A Levels and BTEC Extended Diplomas;
- the fourteenth best performing college nationally out of 343 colleges, placing it in the top 4%; and
- Strode’s students achieve the second highest overall points score per A Level student in all Somerset state schools and colleges. (See League Tables).
James Staniforth, Principal of Strode College said: “We are thrilled with this outstanding performance, which reflects the achievements of our outstanding students and staff. What makes these achievements even more noteworthy is that, unlike many other schools and colleges, Strode is not selective.
“The combination of our best ever results for A Levels and advanced level Extended Diplomas means that, despite some potentially confusing changes to the league tables by the government this year, our excellent performance is still evident.
“While performance tables do provide students and parents with useful information, they do not give the complete picture of a school or colleges performance, and they should not be considered on their own when deciding where the best choice and chance of success lies for a young person at 16.
“Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, also wants to measure the percentage of students achieving AAB grades or better in a small group of A Levels that he believes are particularly useful to students – he calls these `facilitating` subjects. This measure is fairly meaningless however, because not only does it exclude A Levels that universities and employers value, like Economics and Philosophy, but elite universities like the twenty-four Russell Group members, do not share his views. Strode sent 67 students to Russell Group universities this summer and not only did less than half not have A Levels in Mr Gove’s facilitating subjects, but seven had studied BTEC Extended Diplomas.
“Therefore, while league tables form part of the picture, there are other important indicators that are more helpful to students and parents when they are considering how well a school or college will meet their needs. In particular, look at whether the quality of teaching and support at a school or college helps to improve students’ results beyond what they were predicted to achieve based on their GCSE results. Strode College is in the top 5% of 1,200 schools and colleges in the state sector for improving students’ performance in A Levels and Advanced Level Diplomas after their GCSEs (Advanced Level Performance Systems 2012).
“We know that we have a lot of excellent students at Strode. We also know that we add value to all of our students because of our exceptional staff and our approach to learning and support. I am extremely proud of what we have achieved and delighted that the league tables and the ALPS measures reflect this success.”