It was a mixed bag of results for schools in West Dorset after the results of this year’s league tables were released.

In what has been described as a “turbulent” year for GCSE marks, The Sir John Colfox School, Beaminster School and Woodroffe School all noticed a drop in the number of students gaining five GCSEs of A* to C grade, including English and maths, compared to last year’s figures.

Despite the results, the schools still did well compared to others across the county, with Woodroffe being ranked fourth in Dorset, with the Sir John Colfox seventh and Beaminster School 12th.

Headteachers have named several changes in the factors measured by the government when collating tables as a reason for the differences compared to last year’s figures.

These include that only first attempts were counted, speaking and listening were excluded from the English Language qualification and BTEC qualifications were not counted this year. League tables are published every year so parents are able to compare schools with others in the local area.

The mark of success at GCSE is pupils attaining five or more passes at grades A* to C, including English and maths.

The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) was introduced in 2010 and shows the proportion of pupils achieving A* to C in English, maths, two science subjects, a modern or ancient language and history or geography.

Woodroffe School in Lyme Regis had 66 per cent of its 177 students gaining five or more GCSEs, between A* to C, including English and maths, with The Sir John Colfox School having 62 per cent of its 138 students and Beaminster had 57 per cent of its 121 students.

Woodroffe School was only beaten by Twynham School in Christchurch, which finished first, Thomas Hardye in Dorchester which finished second and Budmouth College in Weymouth which finished third.

Woodroffe School also performed well in the EBacc, with 41 per cent achieving the grade, with 31 per cent of students at the Sir John Colfox and 27 per cent of students at Beaminster awarded the mark.

Dr Richard Steward, headteacher at Woodroffe School in Lyme Regis, said he was pleased with his school’s results.

Dr Steward said: “Despite the continuing turbulence in the examination system, Woodroffe continues to be one of the highest performing secondary schools in the county. The league tables celebrate the school’s success but that success depends upon the achievements and commitment of our students and that’s what we should really be celebrating.”

Headteacher at Sir John Colfox School, Kay Taylor, praised the staff and students for their hard work throughout the year and said the tables were not reflective of the school’s ‘real’ results.

Mrs Taylor said: “The performance tables this year cannot be compared to previous tables as there are several differences, including BTEC qualifications are no longer counted, resits were not included, iGCSE Biology has not been counted although iGCSE English language has and speaking and listening were excluded from the English Language qualification.

“All this has led to considerable turbulence in the results.

“Students, however, who achieved any of these qualifications were able to count them as GCSE's, which is the more important figure.

“In our case, when we included these qualifications, 67 per cent of our students achieved five A* to C including English and maths.

“This is the real figure and represented the best results the school has ever had.

“We have always believed that we should do what is right for students, not what the performance tables count.

“In 2014 our students worked exceptionally hard and produced excellent results, thanks to our dedicated and supportive staff. They should be proud of all their achievements”.