Two Islamic schools in Blackburn were ranked at the top of national tables for the most significant improvement in their pupils’ GCSE grades this year, The Guardian reports.
Tauheedul Islam Girls’ High School came top for all schools in England using the government’s new Progress 8 measure of attainment, which was published on Thursday.
It was followed in third place by Tauheedul Islam Boys’ School, a free school established by the same Blackburn-based multi-academy trust.
The girls’ school registered a Progress 8 score of 1.38, which means its rate of improvement was more than an entire GCSE grade better than pupils with similar backgrounds nationally.
Hamid Patel, the chief executive of Tauheedul Education Trust, which established the two schools, said the results demonstrated the impact its schools were having.
“It is especially rewarding to see that some of our most vulnerable learners – those who join us from primary school behind the expected level of attainment and those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds – have achieved such outstanding results,” Patel told The Guardian.
“We are focused on building on this success across our family of schools, and by working with others across the country to ensure every young person has the opportunity to fulfill their potential, whatever their background.”
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The trust now runs 18 free schools and academies across England, including three non-faith schools.
