LEAGUE TABLES

QUESTION: Why does WAS appear in first place in some league tables and much further down in others?

ANSWER:  Each newspaper has its own criteria for ranking schools.

GCE

• Percentage of subject entries graded A or B. (We were placed 1st in The Telegraph and  The Daily Mail)

• Average UCAS point score per candidate. (The point score may or may not include General Studies. Most of our girls cashed in AS Critical Thinking in addition to their other AS and A2 subjects and this will have boosted their overall point score). (WAS was placed 1st in The Independent, including General Studies and 2nd in The Guardian, excluding General Studies).

• Average UCAS point score per candidate may or may not include schools taking The International Baccalaureate. Point scores for I.B are high. (WAS was placed 5^th in The Times, General Studies not included, and three of the schools placed above us had taken I.B)

• The Financial Times placed WAS in the 1^st position in their league table “using a unique formula designed to gauge both the quantity and quality of A-level results”

• Average points per candidate. (Most girls at Wycombe take 9 subjects, 25 girls took 10 subjects and only 3 girls took 11 subjects. Some schools enter all candidates for 10 or 11 subjects and hence their total point score for the school is higher and therefore the average point score per candidate is also higher. At Wycombe we believe in a broad education rather than simply maximising the number of GCSE qualifications and, in addition to GCSE qualifications, many of our girls have passed exams in Drama and Music as well as gaining certificates for dance and gymnastics.

• Percentage of A* or A &A* grades. (Our girls perform well at GCSE. This year they achieved 576A* and 203A grades out of a total of 834 subjects taken. This ranked us highly).

Mrs M Page Head of Examinations