Defending performance tables

I was on the Today programme this morning, debating performance tables with Martin Stephen, the High Master of St Paul's school. Some leading independent schools want to 'abolish' the tables, though are not very clear how this might be done in an age of Freedom of Information, nor are they on strong ground when it comes to the desirability of doing so; the data produced by the tables is crucial in helping hundreds of low performing schools to improve; and the tables provide an important measure of comparative accountability. We did, at least, agree that the Government should credit the International GCSE, a more traditional O-level style exam preferred by some private schools, in the tables. One suspects that the failure to do so lies in part behind the abolition call. You can hear the debate here.