Exam results on the up

• GCSE A* to C grades achieved by Nottingham pupils are up 3% to 45%, the 5th best improvement in the country
• Nottingham is 31st out of 147 local authorities for performance at A level
• Greenwood Dale is 6th in a national table of schools which have done most to improve the performance of pupils aged 11 to 16.

45 per cent of Nottingham’s 16-year-old GCSE candidates managed to achieve five good grades (A*-C) in last summer’s exams – a 3.3 percentage point improvement on the previous year, compared to the national percentage point increase of just 2 points.

"It's very pleasing to see such a steady improvement in our pupils' performance in their GCSEs," says Councillor Graham Chapman, City Council spokesman for children's services. "There's still a long hill to climb, but we are clearly out-performing the national average for improvement in several respects . I am delighted to see the contextual value added measure included in this year's statistical release. This demonstrates very clearly just how much energy our teachers are committing to raising their pupils' expectations and ambition to succeed."

Analysis of local authorities’ 2006 GCSE results, published today by the Department for Education and Skills, also shows a striking improvement in the proportion of city pupils gaining five A*-to-C grades that included both English and maths, at four times the national percentage point increase.

Ninety three per cent of city candidates left schools with at least one GCSE pass – up from 91.6 per cent in 2005. Although the national achievement stands at 97.8 per cent, that’s an increase of just 0.4 percentage points over the previous year, while Nottingham’s improvement is three-and-a-half times better, at 1.4 per cent. It’s also twice the level of improvement of the city’s ‘statistical neighbours’ (similar local authority areas, such as Hull and Middlesborough).

The latest figures also reveal a striking improvement in average points scores. With an increase of almost 23 points, Nottingham moves up the local authority rankings by 22 places – from 147th place out of 149 last year to 125th in 2006. In a new departure, the DfES has also released ‘contextual value added’ comparisons, looking at attainment in the context of candidates’ backgrounds. Using this yardstick, the city is ranked 90th out of all 149 authorities for the improvement schools have made to their pupils’ achievement progress since leaving primary school.

Today’s figures will be reissued with some revisions later in the year. It’s already clear that Nottingham’s contextual value added position should improve further by that time, since the figures published today do not include an upward revision of ICT results at a school that challenged the initial marking.