JUST under two thirds of secondary school pupils who studied in Southampton last year failed to achieve the government benchmark grade 5 in English and Maths, new data has revealed.

Even city schools that made ‘above average’ KS2 to KS4 grade progress saw fewer than half their students reaching the expected grade in the two key subjects. This included St Anne’s Catholic School (46%) and Regents Park Community College (39%).

Analysis of the data, released yesterday by the government, shows that, on average, just 34.75% of students across 12 city secondary schools achieved the benchmark grade of a 5 – which is a similar level of achievement to a high grade C or low grade B in the old grading system. The national average is 40.2%

The worst performing schools for achieving the grade were Woodlands Community College (13%), Chamberlayne College for the Arts (14%), and Oasis Academy Mayfield (17%).

However, in Hampshire – excluding Southampton – 43.3% of students across 68 schools achieved the benchmark grade or higher.

Bridgemary School (12%), Park Community School (14%), and Havant Academy (19%) were judged to have the lowest number of students achieving the set level in the Hampshire County Council area.

Nevertheless, there were several schools which saw 50% or more of their pupils reach grade 5 or above.

In Southampton these were St Mary’s Independent School (64%), Saint George Catholic Voluntary Aided College (61%), and Upper Shirley High School (53%).

In Hampshire, 35 schools saw 50% or more of their students achieve the benchmark or higher. The best performing were Salesian College (89%), Farnborough Hill (87%), Meoncross School (76%), St Nicholas’ School (74%), and Alton School (71%).

The data did also reveal that 89% of Southampton pupils who finished year 11 went on to further education or into employment. Across Hampshire, this figure is 95%, with the national average at 94%.

How did the councils respond?

Councillor Darren Paffey, Southampton's school chief, said: “This council is determined to make a difference for young people and the results announced today show that our secondary schools in Southampton are working hard to provide a good education.

"I congratulate all those students who are making real progress and achieving their potential. In particular, St Anne’s, Saint Georges, Regents Park and Upper Shirley schools have done very well, achieving scores that are well above the national average in the league tables announced today. Two other secondary schools in the city are graded as having met the national average.

“There were also schools that failed to meet this standard and the council is providing support to these schools to ensure that the recent improvements in exam results are sustained. There is some positive news here and there are areas where we can build upon.”

Daily Echo: New Southampton City Council education chief Darren Paffey.New <a href="/search/?search=Southampton+City+Council&topic_id=1493" target="_self">Southampton City Council</a> education chief Darren Paffey.

Councillor Stephen Reid, Hampshire County Council's education head, said: “Overall, we are very pleased with the performance of Hampshire schools and it is good to see that, on attainment, Hampshire schools are performing above the national average. However, I don't like to talk about averages: there are many factors that can have an impact on how well individual pupils do in their exams. We will therefore analyse these results school by school to get a more detailed picture.

"I was particularly interested in the good performance of The Westgate school – Hampshire’s first all-through school educating pupils from age 4 to 16 years. I want to investigate whether this is a model that could be introduced in other areas of Hampshire.

“Overall, parents and carers should be reassured that the majority of Hampshire’s schools are judged to be good or outstanding by Ofsted. In the face of increasing pressures and financial challenges, we continue to work hard to support our family of schools with a range of improvement advice and other services. Where a school needs assistance to improve its performance, our school improvement experts are ready and able to offer the advice that will help them.”

Daily Echo:

What was said nationally?

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Performance tables can never tell the full story of a school and we urge parents and governors not to place too much weight on them.

He added: “Current performance tables are long past their sell-by date.

“We urgently need fairer performance measures which better recognise the achievements of schools that teach the most vulnerable pupils.”

School standards minister Nick Gibb said: “Making sure that all pupils, regardless of their background, are able to fulfil their potential is one of this Government’s key priorities and these results show that more pupils across the country are doing just that.

“It’s been clear for some time that standards are rising in our schools and today’s data underlines the role academies and free schools are playing in that improvement, with progress above the national average and impressive outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.”