School League Tables

I never thought I would type the words “I agree with Jeremy Clarkson” but there, I have, and I do, well at least on school league tables. His article in the Sunday Times is an outstanding assessment of why league tables not simply unhelpful but actually pointless. Clarkson puts it succinctly when he says “Printing a list of “best schools” purely on the grounds of academic achievement is as idiotic as printing a list of “best foods” purely on the grounds of calorie content. It tells you nothing”. The full article can be read at times online.
Of course I think the Petrol headed one and I would part company on the private public thing as he does seem to be suggesting his children will not be in the state system, but the principle remians the same, we need to know which schools are doing well and which aren’t but to find that out means doing a whole lot more than counting exam passes, as Clarkson himself might say, its not the number of miles driven but the quality of the journey that makes the difference.