TWO schools in Alcester have been named among the best performing in the country, according to a survey by the Sunday Times newspaper.

St Benedict’s Catholic High School and Alcester Grammar School were both ranked in a list of the top 500 state secondary schools in the United Kingdom.

Hilary Sacharewicz, acting assistant headteacher at St Benedict’s Catholic High School, said: “The pupils entering St Benedict's in Year 7 are classified ‘average’ according to national statistics. We however believe that they are far better than that and with hard work in school and support at home they prove this by leaving with well above average qualifications.”

St Benedict’s Catholic High School came 221st and was the only non-selective school in South Warwickshire to be featured in the list.

The students International Baccalaureate (IB) results from last summer were converted into A levels for the study.

The Sunday Times newspaper also ranked the high school, 17th in a list of the top 20 schools offering the IB Diploma.

The rankings in the article published on Sunday, November 23 are based on the percentage of secondary schools achieving A* to B grades at A level and A* and A grades at GCSE.

Alcester Grammar School came 154th dropping 39 places compared to last year result.

Clive Sentance, principal of Alcester Grammar School, said: “We are pleased to be recognised as having excellent exam results, but we are even more pleased that we know our students get better grades at GCSE than students elsewhere with similar Key Stage 2 scores.

“Our superb extra-curricular programme and our warm and caring ethos are impossible to capture in a league table, but parents and students are well aware that they are something special and therefore good reasons to choose the school.”

However, Mr Sentance did point out that the list doesn't show how the outcomes relate to achievements, how well any school has done in helping the less able to achieve a personal success or the different selection criteria operating in different schools.