THE vast majority of teachers would prefer to do away with the Government's performance league tables, the headteacher of a Craven independent school has claimed.

And Giggleswick School's headteacher, Mark Turnbull, has also warned parents to be "aware of the dangers of comparative tables" when choosing a school for their children.

Giggleswick had a ranking of 49th in the county in the Department for Education's Secondary School League Tables, for the proportion of pupils getting five or more GCSE A*-C grades, including English and maths.

But, said Mr Turnbull, the school chose to study IGCSE courses, in common with many other independent schools, which are not recognised in the rankings.

He explained: "Last year, 95 per cent of our GCSE pupils achieved A*-C, which is an excellent record for a school that is not academically selective in its entry requirements, and places us alongside the most selective of schools in the county, including Ermysted’s Grammar School (96 per cent) and Skipton Girls’ High (96 per cent).

"However, in the Secondary School League Tables, we are ranked 49th in the county. This is because, like other independent schools, we choose to study IGCSEs, which are not recognised by the Government for the purposes of rankings

"Furthermore, any child lying outside the age cohort, but who has followed their own path of progress by taking GCSEs earlier or later, is not included.

"The vast majority of teachers would prefer to do away with league tables and understand that education is about a whole breadth of achievements for a child that help to prepare them for the world of adulthood. A narrowing of this view does a disservice to the pupils and vastly underplays the work of so many dedicated professionals.”

The Government has introduced new measures for the coming year, known as 'Progress 8.' These are designed to measure the progress of pupils in eight subjects from the beginning of Year 7 to the end of Year 11.