UK school league tables: City-backed Hackney Academy goes to top of the class as Eton, Harrow, Winchester and St Paul’s fall
Some of the top names in UK education have seen their positions in league tables plummet, after a change in how they are calculated.
Eton, Harrow, Winchester and St Paul’s all received zero per cent against the government’s new benchmark of five good GCSEs including English and maths – because pupils at those coveted schools take qualifications that do not count in the new tables, such as the international GCSE.
However, some City-backed schools in Hackney are faring much better. The Hackney Academy is now rated as the top co-ed school in the country, and Big Four accountancy firm KPMG has donated over £1.4m of cash, as well as hundreds of laptops. Since 2009 KPMG has also supplied over £220,000 of vol unteer time, as well as governor support.
The backing has helped the school quickly rise to top of the class in just five years. The Bridge Academy in Hackney is also becoming increasingly successful. UBS, along with a private investor, put £1m into the capital costs of building the school. They have also provided money to build a new sixth form centre, and fundraised another £1m from employees, customers and suppliers since 2007.
Volunteers help out at the school, where over 60 per cent of students are eligible for free school meals. Their first set of sixth form leavers’ results this year put them in the top 10 per cent of the country for value added. An A* to everyone involved, surely.