Why parents have doubts about league tables

The Government says league tables are useful to parents. But a new poll, revealed exclusively by 'The Independent', shows that mothers and fathers have serious doubts

For years the Government has defended the publication of much-criticised school league tables by saying they are what parents want.

But new research shows that parents prefer to choose schools on local knowledge and by talking to teachers, and believe that competitive rankings can skew how teachers treat pupils, and harm the reputation of some schools.

In a Mori poll commissioned by the General Teaching Council (GTC) last summer, only a third of primary parents and 40 per cent of secondary parents said they used league tables to choose a school, and only a quarter said league tables would influence them more than factors such as location, facilities and resources.

In a series of follow-up discussions parents said they placed much more value on verbal information about schools, and about their individual child's progress once they are in school, than they do on a school's test results.

"As long as I can see my daughter is improving, it doesn't matter if she's improving at the same rate as someone else in the class," said one mother of a primary-age child. "You're making all the kids the same and every child is unique," said a parent with a child in secondary school. "They say the average grade for an 11-year-old is this. Well, why should it be? Your child is an individual, not a national average."

The parents came from the inner cities and the suburbs, and included those who were closely involved with schools and those who were not. Numbers were small - only 35 parents took part in the discussions, and 213 were polled - but the findings are significant because they show that parents, just like teachers, seriously doubt the value of league tables.

For years, teachers and heads have complained that these tables tempt schools to drill for good results and lead to a concentration on "borderline" children at the expense of those at either end of the spectrum. They also say they encourage schools to steer pupils towards taking easier exams, rather than those that best suit the individual student.

Research by Bristol University into the attitudes of head teachers towards league tables, published last year, found that most felt a conflict between their desire to do well in them, and their desire to help all pupils.

"They felt the pressure to target borderline pupils, despite their better judgement," says research fellow Adele Atkinson. "And many were directing more resources towards the C/D boundary, which meant that someone, somewhere else, was suffering."

Now, it seems, parents share the same doubts.

"The parents in this research felt league tables gave a narrow view of schools, and were well aware that if, for example, there were children with special needs in a class they could skew results," says Carol Adams, chief executive of the GTC.

"They even knew of children who had been excluded from taking tests because they would bring a school's results down. It was clear that parents didn't see league tables as referring to their own child. They really didn't use them for school choice, and if they did refer to them it wasn't in isolation but alongside things like Ofsted reports. Even there, parents were quite sceptical and said things like, 'They know when the inspectors are coming in.'"

Parents felt it was irrelevant how other schools were doing, and believed that league tables damaged the reputation of schools that came out poorly in them. They understood that their child's individual progress was not linked to overall progress, and their main concern was for their own child's progress, behaviour and happiness in school.

"What parents said they valued most were discussions with teachers and heads, and what they wanted was more descriptive information in their children's school reports. This is particularly true for primary schools. Parents wanted to know much more than just how their children were doing academically," says Carol Adams.

All this adds weight to the growing calls for a pared-down approach to assessment, with more focus on the individual child. Danielle de Bruin, development officer of the English Secondary Students Association, says students want less emphasis on exams for providing statistics, and more on student individuality. "We want to see more peer assessment and self-assessment. We know there has to be accountability, but the emphasis should be on the students themselves. At present it isn't.

"I've just finished English A-level, and it was all about just learning information to be regurgitated. We didn't go into anything in depth."

Steve Whitely, a parent governor in Newcastle, and a parent representative on the city's education committee, agrees that the focus must swing back to the child. "My daughter is shy. What I want to know is not about SAT results, but about how she's integrating with her peers. The Government says league tables are what parents want.Where is the evidence?"

In Newcastle, he says, it is known that some schools have focused on the C/D boundary to raise results instead of trying to help all students. "The D, G, F and Es just don't count. The gap between the top and bottom is increasing. And we're not testing what matters, but what can be tested."

Even those working closely with performance tables acknowledge their limitations. Mick Marks, assessment co-ordinator for Sandwell, in the west Midlands, says test scores can only ever be one piece of a range of evidence. "Even with value-added scores, they're not perfect. The main thing is for parents to go into a school and look around. I'd say to any parent choosing a school, look at the most recent Ofsted report, look at the performance tables, talk to the head and talk to parents at the gate."

Gillian Windass, policy officer for the National Governors' Council, says most school governors have some concerns about test results being used to rank schools. Primary school tests are particularly unpopular, she says, because they are seen as putting pressure on young children.

And when it comes to parents choosing schools, "Most governors believe that visiting a school is a lot more valuable than test results. A lot of parents value a local school. Schools structures aren't so important. They want to send children to school where they live."

"Why is the GTC so surprised by all this?" says Margaret Morrissey, spokesperson for the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations. "We could have told people this 10 years ago and saved a lot of time and money, not to mention heartache."

A number of surveys have shown parents are not interested in league tables, she says. "What they care about is that there is a rounded curriculum, that their children are happy in school, that they are cared for, and encouraged to learn. The Government hasn't wanted to listen because it has had targets to reach."

She suggests parents would welcome information about how schools are doing, but not in league-table format. "We should stop worrying about where everyone is, and make sure each child is getting support from schools and teachers to achieve their potential."

Parental views will be taken into account by the GTC, which is currently shaping proposals on the future of assessment. It has already told the Government that performance tables need a fundamental review, and that it should consider testing samples of pupils every year, rather than every child.

"The primary purpose of assessment should be to provide pupils and parents with the feedback they need, so that they can take action to make further progress," says Carol Adams.

"We need a richer dialogue with parents than test results alone."

Parents on league tables

"At the end of the day, as long as your child has come out having done the best that they can, that's all you want. But it's all now about results and what position they are in the league tables or compared to the rest of the country. Who cares?"

"You can send your child to a school that's at the top of these tables but if they don't want to learn it doesn't make a blind bit of difference where the school is on the league table."

"I don't agree with them because I think the school might have an 80 per cent failure rate but your child might be in the 20 per cent."

"You hear of people who actually move to get to a school that league tables show is doing well. I think that's crazy."

"A lot of the schools that are high up on the league tables don't have a good vibe when you go and see them. The teachers don't know how to talk to you, they just tell you how great the grades are."

"Our school had a really bad reputation but we sent him there because it was the closest."

"As long as the child is happy and they are learning in that school, I don't think parents are interested in the education system being accountable or being fed hundreds of statistics."

"No one really wants to know. I'm not interested in some school that's got 80 per cent A to Cs and we only got 40 per cent. As long as my child comes out doing the best that they can and the school is doing the best it can that's all that matters."