Proof that GCSEs are second most improved in the country
Tower Hamlets is the second most improved local
authority for GCSE attainment in the country, central government
confirmed yesterday.
Click here
to listen to the BBC interviewing Isobel Cattermole, Corporate
Director for Children, Schools and Families, on the
results.
The national ranking, published by the
Department for Education, includes all local authorities across
England and places Tower Hamlets as the second most improved in
2011, just behind Darlington in the north-east.
It highlights the fact that 61.4 per cent of
students in the borough achieved at least five A* to C grades
including English and maths, the highest ever figure for Tower
Hamlets and higher than the national average of 58.9 per cent.
Mayor Lutfur Rahman congratulated the
borough’s schools and students on the announcement.
He said: “We’ve known for months that our
pupils exceeded the national GCSE average but to hear that the
borough is the second most improved in the whole of the UK is the
icing on the cake.
“With success like this and programmes such as
Building Schools for the Future providing our pupils with
first-class learning facilities, I hope we’ll continue to lead the
way in delivering improved educational attainment.
“Every headteacher, member of teaching staff,
pupil, parent and school governor in Tower Hamlets should be very
pleased with the news.”
The figures come just as a leading think-tank
highlighted how local pupils achieved well above their expected
GCSE grades.
Compiled by CentreForum, the research looked
at the difference between the expected and actual GCSE performance
of 151 local authorities across England in 2009/10 and ranked Tower
Hamlets as ninth nationally.
January 27, 2012