Rugby High School comes top of the town in league tables

The all-girls selective grammar school in Bilton gained a “well above average” rating and a Progress 8 score of 0.5 – the fifth best in Warwickshire.

Head teacher Charlotte Marten said encouraging students to pursue hobbies and giving them tailored help at school are the keys to success.

She said: “I am so proud of my students.

“I think what really matters is that every student has the help to do as well as she can - that’s what really matters to us as a school.

“As a school we try to make sure students have a jolly good education, but the league tables don’t reflect the whole experience.

“We want the students to have a life outside of school and to be able to pursue the things they enjoy doing - none of that is really captured in the league tables.

“I really believe in the American mantra of no child left behind.

“Even students who have significant health problems, missing months of school, have emerged from year 11 with qualifications which will be with them for the rest of their lives.”

Progress 8 scores for Rugby’s secondary schools:

Rugby High School 0.5

Ashlawn School 0.45

Lawrence Sheriff School 0.34

Harris Academy -0.05

Avon Valley School -0.07

Bilton School -0.38

Progress 8 scores are based upon the progression students make from the end of Key Stage 2 (at age 11) to the end of Key Stage 4 (at 16) compared to children who are at a similar level at the end of primary school.

The average improvement is set at zero.