A BASINGSTOKE school is one of 330 in England deemed to be underperforming, following the publication of this year’s league tables.

Everest Community Academy, in Oxford Way, Popley, was the only school in The Gazette area which failed to hit the Government benchmark of 40 per cent of pupils gaining five good GCSES including English and maths.

The results, at 33 per cent, were a significant drop from 2013, when 53 per cent of pupils hit the benchmark.

This year’s league table results, published today, show that more than double the number of state secondary schools in England are underperforming, thought to be a result of tougher exams and the banning of re-sits and some vocational qualifications from school tables.

The tables show the results from GCSE exams sat by pupils last summer.

In The Gazette area, eight of the 12 secondary schools performed better than the national average.

Only The Vyne Community School, in South View, Aldworth School, in South Ham, Fort Hill Community School, in Winklebury and Everest Community Academy had results lower than the average for England, which was 53.4 per cent.

The best performing schools in the borough were Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School, in South Ham and Robert May’s School (RMS), in Odiham, where 74 per cent of pupils hit the Government benchmark.

However, this was a slight drop on RMS's results from the previous year, which were 78 per cent.

Half of the schools in The Gazette area improved on their 2013 results, with The Vyne Community School, in Vyne Road, achieving the biggest increase on 2013.

The school had 53 per cent of pupils hit the Government benchmark, which was an increase of 18 per cent on its 2013 results, when just 35 per cent of pupils reached the target.

Basingstoke MP Maria Miller welcomed the performance table results, and said: “These results show how hard teachers are working to help children in Basingstoke get the best start in life.

“With record numbers of people in work in Basingstoke local employers need more young people with strong qualifications to fill the hundreds of new jobs being created.

“These results show schools are stepping up to the challenge.

“As a growing centre of high tech industry including 5G we need more young people to get five good GCSEs including maths, English and science to provide a strong foundation for employment.”

Name of school and percentage of pupils achieving five GCSEs between A* and C, including English and maths

Bishop Challoner 74 per cent

Robert May’s School 74 per cent

Testbourne Community School 68 per cent

The Costello School 65 per cent

Brighton Hill Community School 61 per cent

The Hurst Community College 61 per cent

Cranbourne Business and Enterprise College 57 per cent

The Clere School 56 per cent

The Vyne Community School 53 per cent

Aldworth School 50 per cent

Fort Hill Community School 43 per cent

Everest Community Academy 33 per cent