Hurray, I thought, I’ve been trying for years to point out that good exam results might often be little more than a reflection of a school’s intake and shouldn’t be used as the sole criterion for judging a school’s effectiveness. This year the Department for Education and Employment seemed to agree.

So I was a bit miffed to learn that because of “concern from schools” the full comparative information is now to be withheld from the public. Still, we will get a tick in a box. We’ll just have to hope that the public doesn’t mistake this tick for a request to the milkman for extra yoghurt at Christmas.

Alan Hall

Headteacher Belle Vue Girls’ School Bradford