Wednesday, December 16, 1998 Published at 00:01 GMT
Education: School League Tables
We are using as key indicators of performance each institution's GCSE/GNVQ results and, where applicable, A and AS level results. The Welsh Office does not supply separate data for Advanced GNVQs so we are unable to provide rankings on that basis as we did for England.
The alphabetical lists show every institution's name, type, local education authority, GCSE figure, previous years' GCSE average, A/AS level figure and rate of unauthorised absence. Read on to see what the figures mean.
The GCSE/GNVQ table lists the schools with their type (see below) and local education authority, then four columns of figures.
In the first column is the percentage of 15-year-old and 16-year-old pupils in the school achieving five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C or GNVQ equivalents.
A secondary consideration in the rankings is the school's previous performance: the corresponding average for the previous three years, 1995/96/97, which is given in the second column. Credit is given for consistency - the higher the average, the higher the ranking.
The third column shows the average result for the local education authority.
The fourth column shows the percentage of half days missed due to unauthorised absences. This is the third factor taken into account in compiling the rankings.
At A/AS level the first column shows the average point score per exam entry of pupils aged 16 to 18 who were entered for at least one A level or A/S exam.
The points for A levels are assigned as: grade A = 10, B = 8, C = 6, D = 4, E = 2. The A/S points are half those for A levels. The points for all the exam entries are added up and an average is worked out.
We are using the figure per entry as being a better reflection of performance than the figure per pupil - which favours schools which enter pupils for a greater number of exam subjects even though their results in those exams may not be as good.
Schools achieving the same point score are then listed alphabetically in the rankings.
As all maintained secondary schools in Wales are comprehensive, the type of institution is restricted to:
L for local education authority maintained,
Source of the data: Welsh Office