League tables

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For over 15 years league tables have been a fact of school life. But why were they introduced in the first place and what has been their impact? Charlotte Hume presents this fascinating look back at the history of this contentious system, interviewing Gillian Shephard, the Secretary of State for Education in John Major's last Cabinet responsible for the Primary School league tables, and Estelle Morris, who occupied the same post in 2001/2 under Tony Blair.Charlotte travels to the Kent coast to talk to the former head of Ramsgate School, once dubbed England's Worst as a result of its position at the bottom of the league tables. Keith relates the dire problems he faced from the vicious circle of decline created by the league tables and the school's notoriety.Now replaced by the shining new £27 million Marlowe Academy, has the trauma for Ramsgate been worth it, and how has the new Contextual Value Added data impacted on its position in the league tables today?