BOLTON School has seen its ranking in an independent school league table dramatically plunge following this year's A-level results.

Bolton School Boys' Division has been ranked 216 out of 286 -- a drop of more than 100 places from last year when it was in 107th place. Meanwhile, Bolton School Girls' Division is now ranked in the Second Division at joint 113th position after dropping 63 places from last year's position at 52.

The league tables were revealed in the Daily Telegraph and placed the boys division in the third division despite 61.56 per cent of A level candidates achieving A or B grades.

An impressive 74.5 per cent of girls achieved A or B but even that was not enough the halt the slide.

Bury Boys Grammar dropped to 230, from last year's 144th position. The only success was Bury Girls' Grammar which climbed up to 109th position from 121.

Once again girls outperformed boys, according to the table. In the premier league section of the table, 15 of the 24 places were taken by girls schools.

Overall, 70 per cent of the subjects taken at independent schools were graded A or B compared with a national average of 44.5 per cent.

Headteacher of the Bolton Boys' Division Mervyn Brooker said: "It is very disappointing but not unexpected. This year there were some superb individuals but the overall quality was down."

He said all the A-level students had got university places, although some did not get their first choice.

Mr Brooker added that it should be borne in mind that the Daily Telegraph compiles the table only by looking at numbers of As and Bs and that the use of divisions was quite misleading, as it is common for schools to jump into different divisions each year.

The headmaster also pointed out that the boys division has achieved some outstanding results in extra curricular activities, winning national cups in water polo and soccer.