Shropshire’s Concord College was today continuing to celebrate its “best-ever year” after another high rating in exam league tables.

The international school at Acton Burnell, near Shrewsbury, takes 54th spot in a table of the top 100 UK private schools ranked by their GCSE results. But as Concord celebrated its success in Independent Schools Council table, a leading headmistress claimed GCSEs were no longer “academically challenging”.

The results achieved at Concord were the best in its 60-year history.

Eighty six per cent of its students gained five or more A or A* passes and 100 per cent achieved five or more A to C passes this year.

Principal Neil Hawkins said: “We are all really delighted by the success of our GCSE students. They have lived up to our high expectations of them and made themselves – and their families – very happy and proud.

Outstanding

“To be ranked so highly in the national GCSE league tables is a fabulous achievement when you consider the many thousands of schools in the UK. It is certainly our best-ever year.

“Our teachers and support staff have done a wonderful job in supporting the students. With such outstanding GCSE results our students can now look forward to their A-Levels with great confidence.”

Last weekend Concord took fourth place in the national A-Level table published by the Independent Schools Council. It achieved high rankings too in tables published by The Times and Daily Telegraph.

Top spot in today’s GCSE table goes to Wycombe Abbey School in Buckinghamshire. Headmistress Cynthia Hall said moves to make the exams more relevant to students meant they were not tough enough for bright pupils.

She said she was delighted with the results of the girls’ boarding school, saying it had been a “particularly good year group”.

But she raised concerns about the rigour of current GCSE exams. “They have become more and more accessible to students, but they are not as academically challenging,” she added.

Mrs Hall said International GCSEs were a better preparation for A-levels.

IGCSEs have long been favoured by many private schools who believe they are tougher than traditional GCSEs. In June, Education Secretary Michael Gove announced state schools would be able to teach the qualification from this month, reversing a decision of the previous Government.

How independents are ranked

This table shows the GCSE results of Shropshire members of the Independent Schools Council.

Many private schools now sit International GCSEs (IGCSE) in some subjects. The council does not differentiate between these and GCSEs, so all are included in this table.

Schools are ranked by the proportion of exam entries awarded A or A*. One GCSE at A* grade scores 58 points, down to 16 points for Grade G.

After the school name, the table shows number of candidates for exams; percentage of exam entries awarded grades A or A*; percentage of exam entries awarded grades A* to C; and the average points score per candidate.

• Concord College 36, 81.02, 98.51, 494.17.
• Shrewsbury Girls’ High School 79, 67.49, 98.06, 499.65.
• Moreton Hall School, Oswestry, 46, 65.44, 98.28, 451.04.
• Oswestry School 39, 40.06, 87.61, 411.44.
• Bedstone College, Bucknell, 38, 24.02, 80.68, 435.42.

The top five schools nationally are:

• Wycombe Abbey School, High Wycombe, 89, 99.31, 100,557.39.
• The Lady Eleanor Holles School, Hampton, 96, 98.14, 100, 565.44.
• City of London School For Girls 82, 97.75, 100, 583.63.
• Magdalen College School, Oxford, 104, 97.30, 100, 562.79.
• The North London Collegiate 105, 96.58, 100, 545.54.

By Education Correspondent Dave Morris