WORCESTER and Hereford sixth form colleges have starred in new school performance data heralded as the first accurate measure of A-level achievement.

Under the new system, known as ALPS, the Worcester college came 22nd out of 560 schools assessed over the past three years - in the top four per cent nationally.

Hereford Sixth Form did even better, coming fifth - among the top one per cent.

John Tredwell, the Worcester college's principal, believes this value-added performance data - the improvement of students over time - is the fairest method to measure success.

While these figures have been available for years up to GCSE, the only league table information at A-level has been raw results, which reflect poorly on non-selective schools.

However, independent experts have managed to assess value added in sixth forms more than a year before the Government plans to release the results.

"Raw results are not useful because they nearly always place the independent and selective schools at the top," said Mr Tredwell.

"Value added says a lot more about us. It tells you what sort of outcomes students of different ability achieve."

Hereford Sixth Form's principal Dr Jonathan Godfrey said: "It is difficult to present this complex data clearly but this achievement is equivalent to Hereford United being in the Champions League three years in a row."

Both sixth form colleges boast an A-level pass rate of more than 98 per cent, well above the national average.

The analysis compared the A-level results of students with their GCSE starting grades and gave a score for performance in every subject and course.

The research used results from 427 state secondary schools - a quarter of the national total - 86 sixth form colleges and 47 further education colleges.

The news comes after an Ofsted report last week praised Worcester College of Technology for its all-round standards, especially in apprenticeships.