Every year the Sunday Times brings out its guide to schools.
This year’s has just been published. The 24th edition of Parent Power identifies the 2,000 highest-achieving schools in the UK, ranked by their recent examination results.
Altogether 14 schools in and around York feature in that list, including one state primary, four state comprehensive and nine private secondary schools.
According to the ranking York has the top two schools in the North in Queen Ethelburga’s College and St Peter’s, both fee-paying schools.
York also has one of the top ten state secondary schools in the North. Fulford School is at number ten in that list, while it is 213= in the full list of 2K schools.
Two state secondary schools rank higher than fee-paying equivalents in the city: Fulford is ranked above Bootham, The Mount and Pocklington Schools, while Archbishop Holgate’s is above the latter two.
Ripon Grammar School is named as the top state sector school in the North for an impressive forth year in a row.
The Sunday Times Parent Power report is considered an authoritative survey of the country’s best schools. It comes out a few weeks ahead of the official Government tables for secondary school performance.
Here’s the full breakdown.
All the schools in or near York that make the list
| Sunday Times rank | School | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 28= | Naburn C of E Primary School | Small state primary |
| 37= | Cundall Manor School | Private secondary |
| 52 | Queen Ethelburga's College | Private secondary |
| 89 | St Peter's School | Private secondary |
| 148= | The Faculty of Queen Ethelburga's | Private secondary |
| 160= | Queen Margaret's School | Private secondary |
| 203= | Ampleforth College | Private secondary |
| 213= | Fulford School | State comprehensive |
| 228 | Bootham School | Private secondary |
| 242 | Archbishop Holgate's School | State comprehensive |
| 275 | The Mount School | Private secondary |
| 286 | Pocklington School | Private secondary |
| 323= | Huntington School | State comprehensive |
| 325 | All Saints RC School | State comprehensive |
The top 10 state secondary schools in the North
| Regional rank | School name | Town | A-level A*-B (%) | GCSE A*/A (%) | 2016 | 2015 national rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ripon Grammar School | Ripon | 76.2 | 60.6 | 73= | 87 |
| 2 | Skipton Girls' High School | Skipton | 69.8 | 64.7 | 100 | 100 |
| 3 | Ermysted's Grammar School | Skipton | 67.8 | 52.7 | 135 | 110 |
| 4 | Heckmondwike Grammar School | Heckmondwike | 60.6 | 63.5 | 142= | 167= |
| 5 | The Crossley Heath School | Halifax | 60.9 | 59.9 | 148 | 107 |
| 6 | Silverdale School | Sheffield | 70.8 | 36.9 | 160 | 209 |
| 7 | The North Halifax Grammar School | Halifax | 61.6 | 51.5 | 165= | 162 |
| 8 | Tapton School | Sheffield | 67.4 | 37.1 | 174 | 210 |
| 9 | Stokesley School | Stokesley | 65.8 | 33.9 | 197 | 317 |
| 10 | Fulford School | York | 63.3 | 36.2 | 213= | 178 |
How they work out the rankings
Secondary school league tables
The rankings in are determined by the percentage of examination entries gaining A* to B grades at A-level this summer (which is given double weighting) and the percentage of entries returning A* and A grades at GCSE
Primary schools
Primary schools are ranked on their performance in Standard Assessment Tests (Sats) taken between 2013 and 2015
The top 10 independent secondary schools in the North
| Regional rank | School name | Town | A-level A*- B (%) | GCSE A*/A (%) | 2016 national rank | 2015 national rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Queen Ethelburga's College | York | 97.9 | 68.5 | 52 | 52 |
| 2 | St Peter's School | York | 83.3 | 76.1 | 89 | 103 |
| 3 | The Grammar School at Leeds | Leeds | 82.9 | 66.3 | 110 | 119 |
| 4 | Bradford Grammar School | Bradford | 80.4 | 71.1 | 112 | 128 |
| 5 | Wakefield Girls' High School | Wakefield | 75.5 | 75.2 | 140 | 117 |
| 6 | The Faculty of Queen Ethelburga's | York | 95.9 | 31.7 | 148= | 140= |
| 7 | Queen Margaret's School (York) | York | 78.7 | 61.9 | 160= | 159 |
| 8 | Hymers College | Hull | 75.8 | 66.1 | 166 | 118 |
| 9 | Queen Elizabeth Grammar School | Wakefield | 75 | 64.5 | 176 | 217= |
| 10 | Sheffield High School GDST | Sheffield | 69.7 | 69.3 | 198 | 161 |