According to the Sunday Times Schools Guide, this guide ranks the top schools in the region. The Sunday Times School Guide 2022 names three Cheshire secondary schools and two Cheshire primary schools among the best in the North West.
Evelyn Street Primary School in Warrington was placed third in the North West and 17th overall in the prestigious list.
Three of the top 10 fee-paying schools are in Cheshire, with The King’s School, Chester; The Queen’s School, Chester; and The Grange, Northwich, ranked fourth, fifth, and sixth.
Also highlighted is Lower Peover Primary School, Knutsford, which was ranked eighth best of all the region’s primary schools.
The 29th edition of Parent Power determines the highest-achieving schools in the UK, ranked by their examination results from 2017 to 2019.
Altrincham dominates the list of the region’s top state secondary schools. Four of the top 10 in the North-West are located in the town, including the region’s top-performing school, Altrincham Grammar School for Girls.
A staggering 91.3 per cent of students at the Altrincham School attained A-levels at grade B or above, nine per cent more than at the North West’s next highest performing state school, The Blue Coat in Liverpool.
The school also boasts the highest percentage of students attaining GCSEs at grade 7 or above, with 83.6 per cent.
Altrincham Grammar School for Boys follows close on the coat-tails of its neighbours, placing third in the North West and 28th nationally. Elsewhere in the town, Loreto Grammar School and St. Ambrose College also made the top 10.
According to the secondary school league tables, the ranking is based on the average percentage of entries gaining A* to B grades at the A-level. In contrast, the average rate of entries returning 9-7 or A* and A grades at the GCSE are considered.
This division of The Sunday Times Schools Guide only includes schools that made their results publicly available in those years, including around 1,700 schools.
The results of the 2020 and 2021 exams have not been used in determining this year’s Parent Power rankings.
Alastair McCall, an editor of Parent Power, stated: “The need for clarity regarding school examination performance is more significant than ever after two years of teacher assessed grades, during which for entirely rational reasons, top grades increased significantly.
“We thought it was fundamental to review the results of the most recent moderated public examinations from 2017, 2018 and 2019 to make a clear and current picture of school performance.
“By taking the average of three years, we were able to avoid the relatively poor performance of one particular year.
“When some schools are making unsubstantiated claims of academic prowess based on results from 2020 to 2021. We think these rankings and all the additional knowledge on offer in Parent Power provide parents with a more accurate guide to academic success in schools today.”
