Hereford Cathedral School

On occasions parents may be concerned to read in the press reports on Government League Tables that do not record Hereford Cathedral School's A level achievements as top in the county. Please rest assured that, on average, our students achieve better grades per A level subject than those in any other school or college in Herefordshire.

Our students do not sit lots of different A levels or other types of qualifications, which explains why we do not achieve the highest ‘Average point score per student’. However, because we gain high quality grades, we do achieve the highest ‘Average point score per exam entry’. This is the statistic that we are most interested in, because we consider that three grade As are better than, say, four grade Cs at A level. As the Government published information (in italics below) recommends, these performance indicators should not be considered in isolation, as they can be very misleading!

At the end of the day Universities are looking for quality not quantity, which probably explains why 90% of our students secure a place at the University of their choice.

To illustrate further:

A pupil who achieves four grade Cs will score 840 points in the 'Average point score per student column' shown in the table below – but a candidate who achieves three grade As at A level will score a lower 810 points. If all our students took one extra A level and scored the lowest pass possible, an E grade, then the ‘Average point score per student’ recorded in the table below would go up by 150 points.

Moreover, it is important to remember that the points include vocational qualifications other than A level, which we do not take at HCS.

The table below illustrates the Government League Tables for 2011 (the 2012 League tables based on results from last summer will not be available until January 2013). Below the table is the Government's explanation and cautionary note:

"The average point score per student provides a measure of the average number of A level equivalent studied and the grades achieved. The more qualifications undertaken by a student and the higher the grades achieved, the higher the average point score per student. However, the average point score per examination gives an indication of the average A level grade achieved by students at an institution. The higher the grade, the higher the points score per examination entry. Neither performance indicator should be considered in isolation." (DfES)

The full details from which this table has been extracted can be found at the following weblink:

http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/

By entering the School's postcode HR1 2NG, entering a geographical radius of 25 miles and clicking the 16-18 category you can see how we compare to 55 (maintained and independent) schools and colleges in the region. If you click on the category 'Average point score per exam entry’, the institutions are sorted from highest to lowest performing in this crucial category. We are very pleased to note that our 2011 results place us at the very top of this list of 55 schools and colleges, and we hope that our 2012 results are likely to see us similarly placed when the 2012 League Tables are released in Juary 2013.