Five Lincolnshire schools named among the best in the East Midlands including three in one town

The top schools in Lincolnshire have been revealed in new analysis. The 'Fairer Schools' index claims to give a more accurate insight into the places where teachers are truly making a difference in the classroom, with every school in the country being measured against a series of additional performance metrics.

This is done to improve on the official Department for Education league tables, and is also reported to remove some of the built-in bias against secondary schools teaching children from deprived areas. The results were revealed exclusively by the Daily Mirror, and shows that the Charles Read Academy in Grantham has taken the number one spot for Lincolnshire.

This secondary school has ranked 55th in all the schools in England, as well as the second best for all of the East Midlands. This was followed by The King's School, Grantham at 58th, the Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School which ranked 75th, the Skegness Grammar School, Lincolnshire at 142nd and the Bourne Academy was 161st for England.

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These are the top five schools for Lincolnshire and are all within the top nine schools in the East Midlands. Head Master of The King's School, Simon Pickett, stated: "Following on from the Times announcing that for combined results in GCSE and A level, The King’s School remains the East Midlands Secondary School of the Year for the third year running, it is fantastic to hear that using an alternative measure, the Fairer Schools Index, we have been ranked 58th in England.

"The King’s School’s holistic approach continues to serve our students well and we are delighted with this further confirmation of the students’ success. We are all proud of the inclusive and positive school environment. Teachers, parents and students work together, and this means that our students continue to meet and exceed their potential."

He added: "We were delighted to see how well the schools in Grantham continue to perform and the fantastic education that is being provided to all young people in our thriving community."

The government's method of evaluating secondary school performance, known as the Progress 8 measure, fails to take into account factors like the number of children from poorer backgrounds at each school. By doing so, critics say that it risks hiding systemic inequalities and providing potentially misleading conclusions about school performance, with regions like the North East seeing its schools unfairly marked down because the areas they serve are not taken into account.

There are growing calls for the new Labour government to provide that crucial context and Ofsted is reported to be considering a new range of measurements for schools that will better inform parents. The Fairer Schools Index goes some way to redress the ‘false narrative’ of a North / South divide in Government league tables.

This new method, developed by the University of Bristol, adjusts for variables like pupil demographics, ethnicity, and deprivation. The results show the real difference that the best schools make rather than pretending every school has an identical intake with the same socio-economic status and background.

Some of the schools that have rated higher in the ‘Fairer Schools’ index compared to other methods includes the The Gainsborough Academy, which went up 1,518 places to 1020nd in England. Other high climbers include the Skegness Academy which went up 1,280 places to 1537th and the King Edward VI Academy which improved by 1166 places to 540th for England.

Also making their way up the list is the John Spendluffe Foundation Technology College which was ranked at 1557th after moving up 1106 places and The Priory Witham Academy, which went to 1545th after moving up 907 places.