Kate is right to point out that any school's results should be scutinised closely and not brushed aside. I am sure, however, that the staff at Calder High will be doing just that, such is the pressure on modern state schools to perform well in league tables. Any school will, quite naturally, present its best face to the local media, and we need not infer from press coverage that the staff are necessarily complacent about low exam performance.

It is important, however, to separate genuine evidence from personal evidence. If Kate is attempting to assess the school's worth by her own results there, then it should be pointed out that they are excellent results. The testimony of fellow students who left Calder to study at Sixth-Form colleges should also be treated in context: what is the opinion of those who stayed on to do A-Levels in the school?