EVERYONE has heard of the Good Food Guide and most the Good Pub Guide, but for many parents, the Good Schools Guide probably isn't exactly a coffee table essential.

However, both the book and the internet site, which is almost as good and free, are not just an massive collection of facts and figures, but a genuinely interesting resource.

As other websites today let you plan and tailor-make almost anything you fancy - from booking a holiday to downloading music - so www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk does the same with education.

If your son or daughter shows at aptitude for one particular subject the site will find the top-performing schools across the country, or in a specified LEA, in exams in the subject.

Very much like a university guide, it allows parents and pupils to find schools that are exactly right - statistically, at least - for their interests and skills.

You can remove certain kinds of schools from the search, look at either girls' or boys' performance and even study the 'relative success' of a certain subject in relation to the whole curriculum.

There is no final 'enrol my son in Eton now' link, but there is almost everything else currently available to examine your children's proposed route through the education system.

"Performance tables released by the DfES show only aggregate results," said Ralph Lucas, the guide's editor.

"More than 450 schools have received awards, from the most famous to those way down the rankings. The full list of awards can be seen on our website.

"There you can read the full results for each school in the English tables, and search for the subjects and results that interest you."

Two journalists looking for a school for their children launched the guide two decades ago, and as the years have passed, the information has become more sophisticated.

In the Good Schools Guide book, now on its 11th edition, pupils, parents and staff give honest 'insider' views on many of the schools - but at £29, the free internet guide gets my vote.

On-line, schools are listed alongside contact details, pupil numbers, religion, open days and even fees, where necessary.

Then, it shows in amazing detail each school's last three years exam results at GCSE, A-level and in the popular 'value-added' - pupil improvement over time - format.

The guide also lists awards each has won, from healthy eating and sportsmark to specialist status, and has a link to recent Ofsted reports for more in-depth information.

The coup de grace is a property section allowing parents planning to move house to be nearer the school in question a chance to see what's on offer.

There are more than 300 Worcestershire schools listed and, thanks to the freedom of information act, which unlocked the data, their performances are there for all to see.

Clive Corbett, headteacher at Pershore High School said it was entirely reasonable that parents could scrutinise their performance.

"As long as people do put the results into context - and that's where value-added comes in because you can't compare schools simply on statistical data - this information is entirely right and proper," he said.

"If we go back three years we had a problem with certain languages and this allows parents to see that and discuss it with us.

"To be honest I've got parents who look at the results we put out and come in to ask questions and that's great. Schools certainly don't want to hide things from people."

At Worcester Sixth Form College, principal John Tredwell was less impressed with the guide because value added statistics for A-level students are not available until 2006.

"The problem is it's just raw results," he said.

"You need to know the starting point for each pupil and where they finish to see where a school has taken them."

As a self-confessed statistic addict - whether cricket batting averages, or election results night - I would be too curious not to check out my child's school performance.

It does not tell the whole story but, with the crucial value-added scores alongside almost every other kind of data, it is as comprehensive and thorough as it can be.

My advice is to ignore the book and log on to www.goodschoolsguide.

co.uk to get the information free.

Can tuna really make you brainy?

STUDENTS desperate for the edge in exams have been buying fish and other brain foods in the run up to A-levels and GCSEs.

Tesco has said there has been a 'marked' increase in sales of tuna, cod and haddock this year while, as is traditional for late-night study sessions, coffee sales have also boomed.

Other items that have flown off the shelves include peppers, spinach, avocado and fresh fruit

One word of caution - I got a bit carried away with the theory while at university and ate a tin of tuna before one of my finals in the vain hope it would give me a memory boost.

It probably would have been okay except it was a three-hour morning exam, and tuna in brine for breakfast, at 8am, did more to turn my stomach than exercise the grey matter.

Renting out the hall raises £1.5bn

SECONDARY schools in England raise an average of £220,000 a year to help fund themselves.

Schools across the country raise more than £1.5bn a year in total, with around £244m coming from businesses, parents, clubs and churches.

Much of the rest comes

from letting out school halls

or rooms, or holding events

on site.

For example, at last count, Christopher Whitehead High School had 49 separate uses during out of school hours, including car boot sales, music evenings and a meeting place for clubs.

Unfortunately, in Worcestershire's case, the extra cash continues to be not so much a luxury as a necessity to help cover the most basic day-to-day running costs.