Two Muslim schools in Blackburn have come first and second in the Department for Education’s national league tables.
The DfE’s latest performance tables, published on Thursday — including 2016’s GCSE exams and ranked by its new Progress 8 measure — reveals that the best schools in England are those which make the greatest advances in their pupils’ grades.
At the top of the national Progress 8 league table sit two faith schools in Blackburn run by the Tauheedul multi-academy trust – Tauheedul Islamic Boys’ high school and Tauheedul Islamic Girls’ high school. In 10th place was Preston Muslim Girls School.
The new measure of progress is calculated using a pupil’s best eight exam scores — with extra emphasis on maths and English — and then comparing the final results with a pupil’s expected scores based on previous performance.
Those schools that recorded positive progress scores among their pupils outperformed the national average, while those that returned a negative score did worse.
Mufti Hamid Patel CBE, Chief Executive of Tauheedul Education Trust, said: “Our schools are heavily invested in ensuring that pupils make excellent progress and our staff go above and beyond the call of duty to give all of our learners the support they need to achieve, and surpass, expectations.
Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated on the latest news and updates from around the Muslim world!
“To see the effects of this hard work reflected in the Performance League Tables – by having not one, but two of our schools amongst the top three in the country – is hugely rewarding, and we are thrilled that TIGHS and TIBHS are having such a positive impact on pupil outcomes and opening the window of opportunity for so many of our students.
“This achievement is a testament to the efforts and expertise of staff at both schools, the diligence and dedication of our pupils, and the outstanding quality of provision that all TET schools strive to deliver.
“We are committed to nurturing today’s young people and inspiring tomorrow’s leaders and we want to ensure that our pupils – regardless of their starting points – are immersed in an environment where educational excellence is promoted, expected and celebrated.
“It is immensely gratifying to see that we are achieving this vision, and we hope to continue to build on this success. Congratulations to all involved.”
