STANDARDS at Kent's secondary schools have risen again, according to the latest set of Government league tables.

The publication of league tables for GCSE results and post-16 results, including A levels and AS levels, once again reveal that Kent has some of the best and some of the poorest-performing schools in the country.

There was an encouraging improvement in the GCSE results overall in the county, with the number of pupils passing five or more GCSE exams at grades A to C in 2003 rising to 55.6 per cent compared to 53.9 per cent in 2002.

It is the fourth year in succession that GCSE results have improved in Kent. In 2000, the number of GCSE passes at A to C stood at 51.3 per cent.

The average point score awarded to GCSE candidates in Kent was 35.9, compared with 35.7 in 2002 and against a national average of 34.8. The point score reflects pupils' best eight results.

As usual, grammar schools and fee-paying independent schools dominated the top of the tables for both GCSE and post-16 results.

Of the top ten schools, seven were grammars and three were independent.

Although the Department for Education tables do not rank schools, our analysis shows that the best-performing selective school in Kent was Tonbridge Girls Grammar School, where 100 per cent of pupils passed five or more GCSEs at grades A to C.

That was followed by the independent Tonbridge School, where 98 per cent of pupils passed five or more GCSEs at grades A to C.

The school which recorded the biggest improvement in GCSE passes was Folkestone's Brockhill Park, a comprehensive school. There, 56 per cent of pupils passed five or more GCSEs grades A to C compared with just 23 per cent in 2002.

Of the non-selective schools, the best-performing Kent school for GCSE passes was The Bennett Memorial School in Tunbridge Wells.

At the other end of the tables, the poorest performing school was The Ramsgate School in Thanet where just four per cent of pupils passed five or more GCSEs.

Second poorest was Folkestone's Channel School, with just eight per cent of pupils passing five or more GCSEs.

Both schools are set to become specialist academies under ambitious county council plans to try and transform their fortunes.

Independent private schools in Kent dominate the league tables for post-16 exams which include A levels and AS levels.

Of the top ten best-performing schools, seven were independent. Top of the pile was the Tonbridge School, the fee-paying boys schools, with a point score of 107.6 followed by the well-known Benenden School.

The exceptions were Tonbridge Grammar School for Girls and The Judd School in Tunbridge Wells.

The point scores are based on the number of exams taken and grades obtained and is a reflection of pupils' achievements over two years.

One of county's education chiefs says the results were a credit to the hard work of schools and pupils but accepted more work was needed to close the gap between the poorest and the best in Kent.

Cllr Paul Carter, KCC's cabinet member for education, said: “What is most pleasing and encouraging is that Kent schools have shown a rate of progress and improvement year-on-year which outstrips the national rate of improvement. If we work hard to improve those at the bottom, we can do a lot better.”

The value added scores indicated that improvements were being made across all kinds of schools, from selective through to non-selective and specialist, he stressed.

“The value added measure shows good results which builds on those we saw for the Key Stage 3 results in December,” added Cllr Carter.

Full schools results tables will be printed in this week's Kent Messenger, Kentish Gazette and Kentish Express.

And the KM Group's political editor Paul Francis briefed KM-fm's John Humphries on the details.