Foreword by the Secretary of State for Education and Employment

The school and college performance tables provide an invaluable source of information to students and their parents on how the achievements of their local schools and colleges compare. I hope you will find them interesting in themselves, and helpful when considering the options available to young people after they reach 16.

Today's young people are this nation's future. That is why it is vital that they have the best possible start in life. And that is why education is this Government's top priority. At the end of compulsory schooling, young people can choose from a huge variety of courses, and can study for many different types of qualifications. They have a right to expect the highest possible standards wherever and whatever they choose to learn.

We have already made real progress on raising standards in schools and colleges. There is still much to do. There is still far too much wasteful and destructive competition between schools and colleges. And there are still too many institutions which are under-performing. A great deal can be achieved through working in partnership and there are already some excellent examples of this. We will be taking steps to encourage further collaboration across all post-16 routes, and are putting in place ways of encouraging sharing of good practice.

These tables summarise the achievements of students in the main post-16 qualifications taken in schools and Further Education sector colleges. The tables show that there are excellent schools and colleges all over the country, and they celebrate the achievements of countless students, parents, teachers and lecturers.

We have made a number of improvements to the tables this year. You can now see clearly which schools and colleges have, since 1995, increased their GCE A level/AS examination performance. And for the first time, we have reported Advanced GNVQ qualifications on a points score basis, which provides a more complete picture of the achievements of schools and colleges in Advanced level qualifications.

In future, we intend to make further improvements to the tables to give an even clearer idea about the performance of schools and colleges, including ways of showing the progress made by individual students after they finish compulsory education.

Raising standards in education is vital to this country's future well-being. Please join us in our crusade to ensure every young person has the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Rt Hon David Blunkett MP