SECONDARY schools in Gloucestershire fare better than ones in South Gloucestershire according to a new school performance scheme.

Whilst schools in Gloucestershire show grades above the national average most in South Gloucestershire fall below average.

The Department of Education (DoE) released the latest secondary school rankings after they were assessed under a new scheme called Progress 8 and Attainment 8.

Pupil’s grades are assessed between Key Stage 2 (age 16) and Key Stage 4 (age 16) and compared with pupils in other schools in up to eight subjects.

They achieve a Progress 8 score between -1 and 1, which are split in to bands of above average, average, below and well below.

In Gloucestershire the following were rated above average: Stroud High scored 0.43, Rednock 0.23 and Marling School 0.20.

Stroud MP Neil Carmichael said: "Publication of data on school progress and attainment is vital in improving all schools.

"There is some encouraging news here and more work to do."

In South Gloucestershire many schools fell below the national average: Marlwood School scored -0.42, Yate International Academy -0.3, Mangotsfield -0.16, Brimsham Green School -0.24, and Downend School -0.39. Culverhill School was well below the national average with -2.02.

Others in the area were rated average: The Castle School in Thornbury -0.02, Fairfield High School -0.07, Patchway Community College -0.07 and Winterbourne International Academy -0.07. Chipping Sodbury School average -0.15. Bradley Stoke Community School was above national average with a rating of 0.25.

The average score for all schools across England was -0.03.

Attainment 8 ranks pupils by how well they performed in up to eight topics, with a score out of 80. Eight schools in Stroud District were above the national average in Attainment 8.

These included: Stroud High (69.6), Marling, (66.8), Wynstones (62.3), Wycliffe College (57.8), Focus School – Berkeley Campus (56), Rednock (52.6), Archway (50.9) and Thomas Keble (50.5).

In South Gloucestershire the scores were as follows: Yate International Academy (41.9), Downend School (45.1), Patchway Community College (45.8), Culverhill School (47.9), Brimsham Green School (48.2), Marlwood School (48.6), Mangotsfield (48.9), Fairfield High School (48.8), Chipping Sodbury School (49.1), The Castle School in Thornbury (52), Bradley Stoke Community School (52.9), Winterbourne International Academy (54.6).