Top fee-paying schools are beaten by comprehensive

A comprehensive school has become the first to outperform all the country's fee-paying schools after achieving the best marks per pupil at GCSE.

Thomas Telford, in Telford, Shropshire, one of the Government's City Technology Colleges, last week beat all the state grammar schools with a remarkable point score per pupil of 91 – the equivalent of 11 A* star grades each.

Yesterday's publication of independent school GCSE performance tables showed Thomas Telford and a second state school, Henrietta Barnett – a girls grammar school in Barnet, north London – both had higher scores than the top independent performer, St Paul's Cathedral School.

The £11,000-a-year boarding school in London led the independent table with a point score of 78.8, displacing last year's leader, Eton.

Overall, the independent school results showed more than half of all entries obtained an A* star or A grade – with 22.1 per cent getting an A*.

Nationally, the figures were 16.4 per cent and 5 per cent respectively.

Thomas Telford achieves its results by insisting all pupils study for at least one vocational qualification, in most cases information technology, as well as GCSEs.

Like all CTCs it is non-selective, although it operates a banding arrangement whereby it takes in an equal number of pupils every year from each of five different ability ranges.

Other heads have claimed schools such as Thomas Telford can boost their scores by putting pupils in for vocational awards – which are worth the equivalent of four GCSEs.

However, last week's results showed it was harder to gain a distinction in a vocational award than an A* grade in a GCSE.

Sir Kevin Satchwell, the school's headteacher who was given a knighthood last year by Tony Blair for services to education, said: "We believe all academic youngsters can benefit from a vocation course.

"It is teaching them the skills that employers are crying out for. If any other school thinks this is an easy option, I suggest they put their pupils in for a vocational award."

Another City Technology College, Brooke Weston in Corby, Northamptonshire, also had a higher point score than all the independent schools.

However, it failed in the main category used to rank schools in league tables, whereby all pupils must obtain at least five top-grade A* to C grade passes.

Alistair Cooke, general secretary of the Independent Schools Council, criticised ministers yesterday for failing to "extend a word of praise to the standards set by independent schools". He added: "Our schools' GCSE results, like the A-level statistics announced last week, underline the immensely important contribution that ISC schools make to education in Britain today.

"The hard work done by all pupils in both state and independent schools should be given full recognition."

Stephen Baldock, high master of St Paul's, said coming top of the tables was "not a priority". He added: "I think most heads regard tables as both volatile and representative of only a small aspect of the total education a school is trying to offer. But, of course, one wants one's pupils to do well and the fact is that, however you look at the statistics, boys here have done better than any of their preceding years at St Paul's.

"I think one of the things I'm pleased about is that every one of them has taken at least one creative or practical subject, such as art, drama, music or design and technology. It's not simply an academic package."

All schools in the independent table achieved 100 per cent success in getting their pupils to obtain at least five A* to C grade passes at GCSE. The point score is calculated by giving 8 points for an A* grade, 7 for an A, 6 for a B, 5 for a C, 4 for a D, 3 for an E, 2 for an F and 1 for a G. The total is then divided by the number of candidates sitting the exam.