THE best and worst performing secondary schools in Blackburn with Darwen have been revealed based on this summer’s GCSE exams.

The government has released its provisional league tables showing how well the borough’s schools performed in the examinations based on a number of measures.

The tables released by the department for education are not as detailed as the full secondary performance tables, issued in January.

And they are designed give parents an indication of individual school performance as they choose a high school for their child.

Overall children in Blackburn with Darwen make above average progress during their years in secondary school.

Figures show that 43.2 per cent of children achieved a strong 5-9 grade in English an maths, an increase on last year and above the national average.

They also showed that 37.8 per cent entered for the English Baccalaureate ­— made up of English, maths, sciences, a language and either history or geography GCSEs ­— more or less in line with the national average.

The number of young people staying on in education or going into work stood at 94 per cent in line with the national average.

Blackburn with Darwen Attainment 8 score was of 46.3, again in line with the national average.

Attainment 8 is an average score across eight subjects taken at GCSEs, which includes English and maths. The higher the score, the better.

Cllr Maureen Bateson, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education, said: “Firstly, I want to say a massive well done to every young person in Blackburn and Darwen who took their GCSEs this year.

“We have had improvement in all our results, including 77 per cent in English, an improvement of one per cent and 70 per cent in maths, which stayed the same.

“The exams have been more challenging in recent years so it is wonderful to see these results and great to see even more improvement across the board. Students have worked incredibly hard and even more this year have achieved the pass grades in English and Maths. What a fantastic achievement!

“I would also like to thank all our teachers, parents and governors for their hard work and support, they have helped enormously in this level of success. Our young people have done incredibly well. I want to offer my congratulations to all students and best wishes for your future plans.”

Top of the class was Tauheedul Girls’ High School followed by Tauheedul Boys’ High School.

They received a special congratulations from School Standards Minister Nick Gibb.

He said: “These results show that pupils and teachers at both Tauheedul Boys’ High School and Tauheedul Girls’ High School have risen to the challenge of our new, more rigorous GCSEs and are being equipped with the skills that will set them up for future success.

“This success is testament to the hard work of pupils parents and teachers who can all feel rightly proud of their achievements.”

PROVISIONAL TABLES: Schools are ranked by progress children make at Blackburn with Darwen’s secondary schools.

This score shows how much progress pupils at this school made between the end of key stage 2 and the end of key stage 4, compared to pupils across England who got similar results at the end of key stage 2. 

Also included is the percentage of pupils who achieved 9-5 grades in English and maths:

Tauheedul Islam Girls’ High School: Well Above Average; 83.3 per cent

Tauheedul Islam Boys’ High School: Well Above Average; 66.3 per cent

St Wilfrid’s Church of England Academy: Well Above Average; 57 per cent

Pleckgate High School: Average; 45.9 per cent

Blackburn Central High School: Average; 26.3 per cent

Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School: Average; 56.9 per cent

St Bede’s Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn: Average;49.5 per cent

Witton Park Academy: Average; 30.6 per cent

Our Lady and St John Catholic College: Below Average; 13.7 per cent

Darwen Aldridge Community Academy: Below Average; 34.1 per cent

Darwen Vale High School: Below Average; 38.9 per cent

Darwen Aldridge Enterprise Studio: -1.05; 22 per cent