Sunday times Grammar School Rankings

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mamu
Posts: 48
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2014 6:06 pm

Sunday times Grammar School Rankings

Post by mamu »

Can any body post Sunday Times grammar school rankings for 2015? or even 2014? first 100 for England should do.

I'm getting confused with different rankings: ST, Telegraph, bbc, FT, Guardian...

In some HBS is even below 20 ranked; I think telegraph shows Langley as top?

Any advise from experts, which rankings to follow?
kittymum
Posts: 925
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 10:42 pm

Re: Sunday times Grammar School Rankings

Post by kittymum »

I would ignore the rankings. Essentially they all deliver outstanding results (which to be fair they should as they are selecting cohort). Will 98% be significantly better in real terms then 93%? I would say not.

Visit schools and decide which would fit your child - being #1 in some arbitrary ranking doesn't mean it would suit your child. Aldo be realistic about journey times - just because you can apply somewhere doesn't make it a sensible idea! I'm catchment for Kendrick but it would be a hideous journey plus I don't like single sex hence we didn't even visit it - these are the sort of things you need to consider NOT league tables!
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Catseye
Posts: 1824
Joined: Wed Oct 29, 2014 6:03 pm
Location: Cheshire

Re: Sunday times Grammar School Rankings

Post by Catseye »

The Sunday Times is the gold standard now ( A Levels are double weighted (A*-B grade) V GCSE/IGCSE(A*-A grade)

It used to be the FT-Rankings but they no longer indulge in such nonsense.

The Telegraph is useless ,it goes for total ucas point or gcse points , that's not how universities work, whereas The Times table correlate well with Oxbridge/med school/red brick/London colleges(UCL,Imperial,LSE), entry for top courses in the UK.

The Sunday Times League Tables (parentpower) are also a very good representation of how selective a school is to begin with, it has no measure of value added - the most important measure!
scary mum
Posts: 8840
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Re: Sunday times Grammar School Rankings

Post by scary mum »

Indeed, schools that filter out 99% of children based on ability at aged 11 (or 10) are always going to score better than an Upper School, a GS in an area like Bucks where 30% are "selected" or a comprehensive. Look at value added if you must use the tables (I wouldn't). Visit - does the school have a good range of subjects available? Do the pupils seem happy? etc etc
scary mum
anotherdad
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Re: Sunday times Grammar School Rankings

Post by anotherdad »

I suspect that for many parents who place any level of importance on these daft lists, it is nothing to do with choosing the right school for their child and everything to do with being able to tell everyone else where their child's school is on the list.
ToadMum
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Location: Essex

Re: Sunday times Grammar School Rankings

Post by ToadMum »

anotherdad wrote:I suspect that for many parents who place any level of importance on these daft lists, it is nothing to do with choosing the right school for their child and everything to do with being able to tell everyone else where their child's school is on the list.
To be fair, there may be children for whom the right school is the one which they know mummy and daddy will be most happy telling their friends they are attending. Like having the 'right' label on their jeans or bag?
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southbucks3
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Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:59 am

Re: Sunday times Grammar School Rankings

Post by southbucks3 »

anotherdad wrote:I suspect that for many parents who place any level of importance on these daft lists, it is nothing to do with choosing the right school for their child and everything to do with being able to tell everyone else where their child's school is on the list.
My thoughts exactly another dad, bizarrely amongst grown lower middle class men (new money so no public school boys) there seems to be the opposite competition, to state how lowly their sink hole comprehensive was.
Having royalty in the name seems to be a selection clincher too.

Any school in the top few hundred on the ghastly league tables will provide a superb academic education for your child, as others have said how happy they will be there depends on many other factors which vary enormously from school to school and child to child and cannot be addressed in a list.
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