Revealed: the best secondary school in Northumberland

Queen Elizabeth High School is the best secondary school in Northumberland, new government league tables show.
Queen Elizabeth HIgh School in Hexham was the top school in NorthumberlandQueen Elizabeth HIgh School in Hexham was the top school in Northumberland
Queen Elizabeth HIgh School in Hexham was the top school in Northumberland

The school achieved a strong score in the Progress 8 measure, used to assess how much pupils have improved during their time at the school, for the 2017-18 academic year.

It is the second consecutive year that Queen Elizabeth High School has been the highest-ranking school in the Northumberland.

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The King Edward VI Academy and Prudhoe Community High School also performed well.

At the other end of the scale, The Blyth Academy was bottom of the progress score rankings for last year.

Queen Elizabeth High School, in Hexham, is an academy converter which accepts children aged 13 to 18.

It has 1,264 registered pupils. Of them, 296 were eligible to take GCSEs last year.

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Pupils are measured across their scores in eight GCSEs, including core subjects (maths, English and sciences), and their best scores in other, chosen subjects.

These scores are compared to their performance in Key Stage 2 exams, and used to calculate the amount of value the school is adding to a child's education, measured by the institution's Progress 8 score.

In Queen Elizabeth High School, 80% of pupils hit the expected target, grade 4 to 9, in English and maths. In total, 68% hit strong grades of 5 or above in both subjects.

As a result, the school achieved a Progress 8 score of 0.63, the highest in Northumberland. Scores of above and below zero are better and worse than average respectively.

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The top schools in Northumberland, according to their Progress 8 scores, were:

1) Queen Elizabeth High School (Progress 8 score: 0.63)

2) The King Edward VI Academy (0.45)

3) Prudhoe Community High School (0.39)

4) Bedlingtonshire Community High School (0.26)

=5) Ponteland High School (0.05)

=5) James Calvert Spence College (0.05)

7) Astley Community High School (0.04)

8) Bede Academy (0.03)

9) Cramlington Learning Village (-0.07)

10) Haydon Bridge Community High School and Sports College (-0.09)

Meanwhile, at The Blyth Academy, 49% of pupils hit the expected target, grade 4 to 9, in English and maths, and the school was awarded a Progress 8 score of -0.89.

The worst schools in Northumberland, according to their average Progress 8 scores, were:

11) St Benet Biscop Catholic Academy (-0.17)

12) The Duchess's Community High School (-0.29)

13) NCEA Duke's Secondary School (-0.61)

14) Berwick Academy (-0.64)

15) Ashington High School (-0.71)

16) The Blyth Academy (-0.89)