Industry News
Minister rebuts league table criticism
Posted on 20th February 2008
School's minister Jim Knight has defended school league tables, which leading independent schools and education groups have criticised in recent weeks.
Mr Knight said failure to publish data "would lead to accusations that the government was trying to hide the figures", according to the Guardian.
The Independent Schools Council however has called for the tables to be scrapped, saying they unfairly penalise private schools.
Qualifications such as the IGCSE, widely believed to be more challenging than the standard GCSE, are not recognised by league tables, even though a number of top independent schools use them.
The result is that well-performing schools have appeared at the bottom of the tables.
Christopher Ray of Manchester Grammar School told the Manchester Evening News that his school was in "very good company" at the low end of the league tables, where they have been joined by Eton, Winchester and a number of other top private schools for subjects such as mathematics and English. 