Tables help 'raise school standards'

Bristol's Centre for Market and Public Organisation (CMPO) compared the educational outcomes in England, where league tables of secondary schools are published, and Wales, where they have been abolished.

Their findings revealed the average effect of abolishing league tables was substantial – a fall of almost two GCSE grades per pupil per year.

The decline in performance was found to be important for the lowest performing 75 per cent of schools, but not for the top quarter of schools.

The impact was strongest among schools with the most students eligible for free school meals.

The poorest 25 per cent of Welsh schools showed a fall of three GCSE grades per pupil per year, the researchers found.

Publishing school league tables was therefore shown to both raise average school performance and reduce educational inequalities.

Co-author Professor Simon Burgess, who is also director of the CMPO, said: "School accountability policies such as league tables seem to be a cost-effective way of raising school performance, particularly for students in disadvantaged schools and neighbourhoods.

"Our research shows that public accountability is important for school performance.

"This effect is particularly strong in low-performing schools, suggesting that league tables exert pressure on those schools to raise their game."