NEW school league tables out today show that the number of state secondary schools in England which are judged to be underperforming has more than doubled since last year.

Official Department for Education figures out today show that 330 secondary schools in England failed to hit the baseline target of at least 40 per cent of pupils passing five good GCSEs, including maths and England, as well as making expected progress.

This compares with 154 deemed to be underperforming in the previous year.

The surge in schools failing to make the grade follows moves by ministers to make exams harder and ban re-sits. Some vocational qualifications previous included in school performance tables are now excluded.

Statistics released by the Department for Education show that 56.6 per cent of pupils at the average state secondary school passed five good GCSEs, including maths and English, the benchmark level of attainment all schools are aiming to achieve.

In the private sector many independent schools have slipped down the league tables because many have chosen to enter students for tough, O level style examinations, including the International General Certificate of Education, or IGCSE, in preference to normal GCSEs.

The school with the best overall GCSE results in England is Pate’s Grammar School in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.