Top of the class for Whitley Bay High School

The school achieved a strong score in the Progress 8 measure, used to assess how much pupils have improved during their time at the school, for the 2017-18 academic year.

Whitley Bay High School replaces Marden High School as the highest-ranking school in North Tyneside.

George Stephenson High School and St Thomas More Roman Catholic Academy also performed well.

At the other end of the scale, Norham High School was bottom of the progress score rankings for last year.

Whitley Bay High School, in Whitley Bay, is a foundation school which accepts children aged 13 to 18.

It has 1,616 registered pupils. Of them, 353 were eligible to take GCSEs last year.

Pupils are measured across their scores in eight GCSEs, including core subjects (maths, English and sciences), and their best scores in other, chosen subjects.

These scores are compared to their performance in Key Stage 2 exams, and used to calculate the amount of value the school is adding to a child’s education, measured by the institution’s Progress 8 score.

In Whitley Bay High School, 79 per cent of pupils hit the expected target, grade 4 to 9, in English and maths. In total, 57 per cent hit strong grades of 5 or above in both subjects.

As a result, the school achieved a Progress 8 score of 0.37, the highest in North Tyneside. Scores of above and below zero are better and worse than average respectively.

Meanwhile, at Norham High School, 36 per cent of pupils hit the expected target, grade 4 to 9, in English and maths, and the school was awarded a Progress 8 score of -1.13.

The full list of schools in North Tyneside, ranked according to their Progress 8 scores:

1) Whitley Bay High School (Progress 8 score: 0.37)

2) George Stephenson High School (-0.04)

3) St Thomas More Roman Catholic Academy (-0.05)

4) Monkseaton High School (-0.11)

5) Churchill Community College (-0.17)

6) Kings Priory School (-0.18)

7) Marden High School (-0.22)

8) Burnside Business and Enterprise College (-0.3)

9) Longbenton High School (-0.49)

10) John Spence Community High School (-0.58)

11) Seaton Burn College, A Specialist Business and Enterprise School (-0.76)

12) Norham High School (-1.13)