THE prestigious Colchester Royal Grammar School has not come out on top of the A-level league tables for the first time in a decade.

Head master John Russell said the results, published today, differed because of the way they are now reported by the Department for Education.

For nine consecutive years up to 2015, the selective Lexden Road school boasted having among the top A-Level grades in the country.

However, the data was based on the average point score per student.

Colchester Royal Grammar School historically performed well thanks to not only the top grades students achieved but the number of A-Levels they took, which were both factored into this measure.

This time however, the data does not take into account the number of A-Levels sat last summer, just the best grades.

Mr Russell said: “Colchester Royal Grammar School did very well last year, especially at A-Level, however it is disappointing to see that the new tables will not include the average point score per student.

“We encourage our students to study a range of subjects and will continue to do so, despite Government funding cuts; having a broad curriculum is very important.

“The school has been top of the league tables for nine out of the past 10 years on this criteria. The new criteria will focus, amongst other things, on the average points per entry.

“This will ultimately encourage schools to offer a narrow curriculum and for students to study fewer subjects.

“Many of our students achieved highly last year in a number of A-Levels, beyond the standard three, and we will continue to tailor our curricular and extra-curricular offer to the individual.”

The average point score per A-Level entry was 45.87, making it the best performing in north Essex and surrounding areas. The average grade achieved last summer was an A-.

Not far behind was Colchester County High School for Girls whose 237 students achieved a B grade on average. The average point score per A-Level entry was 40.94.

Colchester Sixth Form College had a point score of 26.63 and the average grade was D. Principal Ian MacNaughton said: “We are delighted that a far higher proportion of our students achieved three or more A-Level passes (the normal entrance criteria for university) than the national average.”