As some of the country’s leading independent schools boycott exam league tables, one headmaster shares his feelings on a system he dislikes but believes is the only yardstick to measure how are our schools are delivering.

Nick Dorey of Bethany School, Goudhurst, where the boarding fees are £20,450 a year, says: “I have a strong dislike of league tables and the culture they create. However, I do not believe that the right response to this unhappiness is to boycott them.

“Whilst they have many failings, they are, at present, the only standardised method of comparing educational achievements of schools that we have available to us.

“Furthermore, even though this system is imperfect, I think it is essential that there is some degree of transparency for parents and the public in general regarding the performance of schools.

“If independent schools, in any significant numbers, withhold their results, the public may well believe that they have something to hide. Independent schools will do themselves no favours by appearing evasive.

“In addition, I find it extraordinary that schools which are so keen to trumpet their academic successes in the press from a very subjective viewpoint should be so quick to condemn the league tables which are, in relative terms, more objective.

“However, whilst supporting the inclusion of all schools’ results in the tables, I think it is vital that parents are aware of the imperfections of the system.

“There is no doubt that the criteria which tables use to judge the success of a school, encourage teachers and schools, be it at Key stage 2, Key Stage 3, GCSE or A-level, to distort their teaching so that pupils can jump through their hoops and pass exams.

“This does not create the kind of teaching which genuinely educates young people and inspires them.

“It is also the case that the results shown for schools in the tables say more about the degree of selectivity of their intake than about the quality of education provided. Significant, recent case studies have shown that some of the schools which the government condemns as failing, based on their table positions, have been judged by OFSTED as being more of those with the best teaching and all-round education provision.

“It is just that the average ability of pupils within those schools is relatively low. This does not make them bad schools.

“There are also plenty of schools preventing students from embarking on A-level courses unless they are likely to get A or B grades, even when those pupils are perfectly capable of getting good A-level grades and passing onto university.

“Some schools even force their pupils to leave if they do not get sufficiently good AS level results half way through their courses. Furthermore, it is the case that tables endeavour to give parity to qualifications of a very different nature.

“How can one possibly compare the value in university points of A-levels and IB for example which are totally different educational examination systems? The same goes for other examinations and vocational qualifications which are counted in the GCSE tables.

“Finally, of course, examinations are only a small part of the all-round education that most schools provide. Of equal, and I would even maintain, greater importance to a young person’s future are the social, moral and leadership skills as well as the diversity of interests which schools can encourage and inculcate. None of these appear in the tables.

“There is no doubt, therefore, that league table culture can damage the education of young people and that it can provide a very distorted view of education attainment.

“However, boycotting the tables will not solve the problem and my hope is that the vast majority of independent schools will see the wisdom of being included in the tables.”