Secondary schools in the borough have been ranked 16th in the country in a new league table that only considers academic subjects.

The Department for Education announced last month that it would remove vocational qualifications that are the equivalent of GCSEs when assessing performance.

It increased Richmond secondary schools’ ranking from 26th to 16th, out of 151 council areas, after taking into account just the percentage of pupils achieving five or more GCSE grades, including English and maths.

Councillor Paul Hodgins, cabinet member for schools at Richmond Council, said: “For many young people, the non-conventional qualifications are important. A number of our schools do offer these subjects, and will continue to do so.

“This change in how the league tables are compiled just makes it a more level playing field for parents to compare schools.”