BRADFORD once again has found itself near the bottom of the school league tables when it comes to GCSE results.

The national table, published today, shows Bradford is third from bottom for the percentage of pupils achieving five or more A* to C-grades at GCSE or equivalent - including English and maths - in last summer's GCSEs.

In the Bradford district only 44 per cent of pupils achieved that result, with only Blackpool - also 44 per cent - and Knowsley - 35.4 per cent - coming lower in the table.

The top performing area, with 73.8 per cent of state school pupils scoring five or more A*-C grades was Kensington and Chelsea.

It is a drop from last year, where Bradford came 140th out of local authorities. This year it slides down to 149 out of 151.

The top authority, Kensington and Chelsea, had 73.8 per cent of pupils meeting the target.

In neighbouring Leeds the figure was 51 per cent, with 60 per cent in Calderdale and 56 per cent in Kirklees.

Coming top in the district's schools for points per student for five or more  more A*-C grades is Bradford Girls' Grammar School, followed by Ilkley Grammar School.

At the bottom of the table of 38 eligible schools is the Jaamiatul Imaam Mohammad faith school in Bradford with Tong High School second from bottom.

Nationally, the number of secondary schools considered to be under-performing has doubled in the wake of a major overhaul of the exams system, official figures show.

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