A-LEVEL league tables do not reflect all the achievements of schools and colleges, according to Accrington and Rossendale College.

Gordon Coates, promotions manager of the college, said that, although they were placed bottom in East Lancashire according to figures released yesterday, the table did not show the improvements made by students.

He said the college was committed to providing quality education for the widest number of people and not just those with the best GCSE results.

Mr Coates said: "We have the lowest GCSE entry requirements in East Lancashire and the improvement students show at Accrington and Rossendale College is remarkable.

"Students with excellent GCSE results get excellent A-level results while students with poor GCSE results improve and gain good A-level results.

"Not one of our students who wanted to progress to Higher Education failed to find a place."

Mr Coates said that the A-level pass rate last year was 92.4 per cent, which is above the national average.