• For our interactive league table, click here.

FOURTEEN-year-olds in four of Worcester's five secondary schools failed to meet the county average for the improvements made between key stage two and three.

The figure for that improvement - which is known as the contextual value-added score - was 100.2 across the county as a whole, but only Nunnery Wood High School met this.

Headteacher Alun Williams said the school's 100.2 score was testament to pupils' hard work. He said: "We are very pleased with our results," he said. "They celebrate the success of our students, who work very hard.

"But we do think the results could have been better and there is room for improvement. We anticipate a higher value-added score in the future."

The value-added score records the progress pupils make between key stage two and key stage three. According to the Department of Children, Schools and Families, scores above 100 represent schools where pupils on average made more progress than similar pupils nationally, while scores below 100 represent schools where pupils made less progress.

Mr Williams said: "We have always argued that the contextual value-added score is the most important figure to look at in these league tables, as this tracks the progress that pupils make."

At Christopher Whitehead Language College and Bishop Perowne CE College, key stage three pupils achieved a contextual value-added score of 99.7. Meanwhile, Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College achived 99.6 and Elgar Technology College got 99.2.

Top of the county for its contextual value-added score was Prince Henry's High School at Evesham, which achieved a figure of 101.7, closely followed by Evesham High School on 101.5 and Tenbury High School with 101.3.

Bernard Roberts, the headteacher at Prince Henry's High, said: "I have never liked league tables but I accept that it gives parents information they probably would not otherwise get.

"Having said that, it is nice to be at the top as we do work hard to put on value-added, although in the key stage three tests our feeder schools must take some of the credit."

Today's tables are formulated from the key stage three tests in English, maths and science that were sat by pupils in May last year.

l Three-quarters of 14-year-olds across Worcestershire beat the national average in the English, maths and science tests, today's key stage three tables reveal.

A total of 76 per cent of pupils achieved level five or above in English, while 77 per cent achiveve level five or above in maths, and 75 per cent got level five or above in science. The national averages respectively were 74 per cent, 76 per cent and 73 per cent respectively.

At Nunnery Wood High School, Worcester, the figures were 85 per cent, 82 per cent and 75 per cent.

Nunnery Wood headteacher Alun Williams said: "We are very, very pleased with our English and maths results and we are pleased with our science results.

"We had 60 of those pupils taking their science GCSE two years early, so that is why we think that result is down - although all of them achieved excellent results."

  • For our interactive league table, click here.