NEW league tables show that overall, children in Bolton made below average progress while at secondary school.

The results from last year’s GCSE results show that children at eight schools made below average progress and at two schools, pupils made well below average progress.

On the positive side, two schools recorded well-above-average results, while four were above average and three matched the national average.

Bolton’s pass rate for pupils getting five or more good GCSE results, including English and maths, dipped slightly to 57.1 per cent, compared to 58 per cent the year before.

This means they made less progress than other pupils nationally with similar starting points.

It shows that there is still work that needs to be done, especially in the worst-performing schools.

Nationally, results also dipped with the pass rate falling from 61.2 per cent to 60.1 per cent.

While this might raise concerns, Bolton Council is right to point out that changes to the GCSE marking scheme make it more difficult to track progress from the previous system.

And in Bolton, there has been an increase in the number of pupils achieving a level five or higher in English and maths.

Teachers, pupils and parents deserve credit for the increase and there is plenty of hard work being done to improve standards across all schools in the borough.