Local school makes UK Top 100

1.08.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 2nd Sep 2004

Vincent Cable MP with pupils from Waldegrave Girls School

A local secondary school - Waldegrave Girls' - has made it into the list of the country's top 100 state schools on the back of its GCSE results this year. Since most of the schools on the list are selective grammar schools (like Tiffins in Kingston) the achievement is all the greater, given that Waldegrave has a genuinely comprehensive intake.

Vincent Cable said: "Waldegrave has become an extremely popular school, highly regarded for its academic standards, good behaviour and educational ethos".

"There is however a growing problem. It is massively over subscribed and these results will aggravate the imbalance between supply and demand. In some areas, like Hampton, it is virtually impossible for girls to gain admission since they are deemed too distant on the complex quadranting system".

"What caused particular resentment is that, on the current admission system, out of borough children can get preference over local borough residents. This is a consequence of the Greenwich Judgement which, unfortunately, this government, like its Conservative predecessor, is committed to maintain".