KENT can lay claim to some of the best and some of the poorest schools in the country, on the basis of league tables released this week.

It can also boast the most improved school in the country over the last four years. Ashford’s North School topped a table of the 100 most improved schools in what are called “challenging circumstances” based on a GCSE passes.

The tables for GCSE and post-16 results, including ‘A’ levels, illustrate wide differences between the county’s selective grammars and non-selective schools.

The results also show that while Kent schools do better than the national average in terms of GCSE passes, they fall marginally short of the national average when it comes to the post-16 results.

In Kent, 55.8 per cent of pupils passed five or more GCSE exams at grades A to C compared to 53.7 per cent nationally. That translated into an average point score of 350.8 in Kent compared to 340.3 nationally.

The average point score for post-16 results in Kent was 266.4 per candidate compared to 269.2 per candidate nationally.

However, for the first time, the value-added measure incorporated into the tables has placed one non-selective school ahead of two grammar schools.

Overall, the county’s grammar schools dominated the top of the tables, as expected. Tonbridge Grammar School was ranked first, with 98 per cent of pupils passing five or more GCSE’s at grades A to C.

It also recorded higher than average “value added” scores, that are designed to reflect the progress made by pupils from the age of 11 through to 16.

Ashford’s North School emerged as the most improved school after 60 per cent of pupils passed five or more GCSEs at grades A to C in 2004 compared with just nine per cent in 2001. Also in the top 100 improved schools was Maidstone’s Cornwallis School.

The top five schools in Kent were: Tonbridge Grammar; Tonbridge School (independent); Tunbridge Wells Girls Grammar School; Invicta Girls Grammar School and Dartford Grammar School for Girls.

Among the non-selective schools, Homewood School in Tenterden - Kent’s largest secondary school - was the best performing school. Although the percentage of GCSE passes was lower than some others, the fact that it added more value to pupils’ progress ranked it highest of the non-selective schools.

At the other end of the spectrum, three schools in east Kent were once again Kent’s poorest, although two showed signs of improvement since last year.

Cantebury’s Montgomery School was ranked bottom of all KCC schools, with just four per cent of pupils passing five or more GCSEs at grades A to C - down on last year. It also had the worst rate of truancy in Kent, with an absenteeism rate of 7.1 per cent.

The Ramsgate School, which KCC plans to rebuild as a specialist academy, recorded 15 per cent GCSE passes at grades A to C, compared with four per cent last year.

At the Channel School in Folkestone, which KCC also plans to rebuild as a specialist academy, 20 per cent of pupils passed five or more GCSEs at grades A to C compared with eight per cent in 2003.

County education chiefs acknowledged they needed to do more to improve standards at some schools but praised the achievement of pupils.

Cllr Paul Carter, KCC's cabinet member for education, confirmed a team of expert headteachers was being set up to help schools in difficulty. Heads will be seconded to work at those with the poorest results and those identified as “coasting.”

“Our challenge and goal is to get those schools that are not adding value to do much better and if we can do that, we will produce some stunning results. Generally, the results are a very creditable achievement, both in terms of value added and raw data,” he said.

* According to the Department for Education, a school’s added vale score for Key Stage 2 pupils where more than 100 pupils are entered for exams is regarded as “broadly average” if it ranges from 976.5 to 1005.5.