Conservatives must do better after bad exam results (Westminster and City of London Liberal Democrats)

Westminster and City of London Liberal Democrats <info@westminsterlibdems.org.uk>

Conservatives must do better after bad exam results

January 16, 2007 7:12 PM

Conservative-run Westminster has one of the worst education records of any London borough, official school league tables released in the past week reveal.

Westminster came 23rd out of 32 London local authorities with 40.6% of schoolchildren achieving at least five GCSEs at grades A* to C, including both maths and English. Westminster finished behind much poorer boroughs like Lambeth, Newham, and Lewisham.

That performance also placed Westminster 94th out of England's 148 local authorities. The top performing council anywhere in England was Liberal Democrat-controlled Sutton, in southwest London, where over 63% of children obtaining the top grades.

When judged on how much unauthorised absence schoolchildren took, Westminster finished 27th out of the capital's 32 boroughs, with 1.9% of half-day sessions lost. The Council's place in the London league table dropped to 29th out of 32 when judged on a combination of both the number of GCSEs taken by local children and their grades in all those exams.

Worst of all, when judged on how much children had improved since the age of 10 or 11 Westminster finished rock bottom - 32nd out of 32. In the whole of England on this score, according to the figures, Westminster is 147th out of 148 - ahead of only Leeds. This measurement is calculated by comparing how Westminster children had improved since their national tests at the age of 10 or 11 compared with those of similar pupils across England - Westminster's schoolchildren had improved less than others.

Commenting on the damning figures, local Liberal Democrat Stuart Bonar said, "Westminster Council's spin machine was working on overdrive when they announced these results last week. The Conservative councillor in charge of schools, Cllr Sarah Richardson, declared that the Council 'are not complacent' about 'these improved results'. What bare-faced cheek!

"The truth is that Westminster, with its vast financial resources, is doing very, very badly, and on one indicator it is at the absolute bottom of the London league table - and second from bottom out of 148 English councils. They are failing Westminster's children and our teachers.

"Local Conservatives like to boast that they are delivering 'excellent services'. The reality behind their spin is that they offer local people failing services. What a great shame that it is the schoolchildren of Westminster who are suffering from their failure."

All figures are official and are available to the public on the BBC News website.