We ask Birmingham locals how much attention they pay to school league tables and whether they think they reflect the quality of education. What’s more important when choosing a school: its league table ranking or its overall environment and ethos? And do league tables put too much pressure on schools, or do they help raise standards?
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Honestly, league tables, forget it, forget it. I was a careers advisor, so I found that
00:13it doesn't help. As long as the environment is right for the child and they're doing well,
00:20then the league table doesn't mean anything at all. Not a thing.
00:26I don't even think that matters. I really don't think that matters. I think the most
00:29important thing as a parent, and I think the most important thing is the environment. And
00:33we choose our environment.
00:34Oh, look, I think league tables are ridiculous. I think the standardised testing has its place,
00:39but it probably shouldn't be made public and used to pit schools against each other. And
00:42I think they don't reflect what your child is going to be like in that environment anyway.
00:46So if it were up to me, we wouldn't have league tables. We'd get rid of them and we'd just
00:50assess how happy the kid is at the school, how much they want to learn there, and are
00:54they getting the best out of their school for their own education.