Coventry and Warwickshire school named among 'best schools' in the Midlands
One school in Coventry and another in Warwickshire have been named among the 'best' schools in the Midlands where teachers most impact pupils' life choices. The list, part of the Fairer Schools Index, gives insight into the schools where teachers make a difference in lessons.
The Fairer Schools Index uses an 'adjusted progress 8' measure to assess schools' performances and compares GS results of students who started from the same point at the end of Key Stage 2, similar to the government's current Progress 8 benchmark used for the Department of Education's league tables, The Mirror reports.
Researchers use this measure to provide a clear picture of the top-performing schools, taking factors into consideration such as free school meals, language, ethnic group, gender, neighbourhood, special educational needs and month of birth.
Read more: Thousands of jobs to be created with Coventry and Warwick gigapark plan
Ten schools in the Midlands were named within the Fairer Share Index, with Eden Girls' School in Coventry named sixth and Alcester Academy in Warwickshire ranked twelfth. The full list of the best schools in the Midlands is below.
The Steiner Academy, Hereford
Eden Boys' School, Birmingham
Eden Girls' Leadership Academy, Birmingham
St Paul's School for Girls, Birmingham
Fairfield High School, Herefordshire
Eden Girls' School, Coventry
Bloxwich Academy, Walsall
King Edward VI School, Warwickshire
King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys, Birmingham
Alcester Academy, Warwickshire
Some say the Fairer Schools Index helps to redress the "false narrative" of a north/south divide in Government league tables.
Henri Murison, chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, which backs the index, said: "By failing to account for a number of different variables related to pupils’ backgrounds, the last government labelled many schools in areas like the North East of England as under-performing while failing to account for demographic differences in helping drive higher outcomes in London schools.
"Those schools that beat the odds stacked against their pupils should be recognised as being high performing, and that will drive down the disadvantage gap over the decade to come and reduce the gaps which exist across and between parts of England today.”
Get daily headlines and breaking news emailed to you - it’s FREE