HEAD teachers at two of the city's biggest schools say they are doing well despite league tables giving a poor picture.

Both Hugh Porter, head of Joseph Rowntree School, and Chris Bridge, head of Huntington School, say they have had very good years, even though secondary school performance tables put them below the national and York averages.

In the performance tables Joseph Rowntree School had an average point score per exam of 74.8 with Huntington a little higher on 75. The average for the country was 76 and 78.6 for York.

Mr Bridge said the raw scores might indicate a deterioration, but on examining how well the pupils had progressed, it had been the best year ever.

Half of the students had come within the top quarter of pupils in York in terms of how well they had progressed from GCSE to A-level. He said: "These are some of the best results we have ever had and we are very proud when you consider the starting point."

He also said more students at the school were taking A-levels than in previous years to give more students a chance to go on to higher education. This was also likely to have affected figures.

Mr Porter said it was impossible to compare last year's figures with those in the tables this year.

Last year only students aged 17 and 18 were taken into account, whereas this year 16-year-olds were also included and many of those from Joseph Rowntree had not "cashed in" their results for the year.

He said the league tables were confusing both for parents and for the schools.

He said: "I think the important thing for parents is to remember it does not matter which school their children are at, they will get a good education and the best results they are capable of.

"Year on year the York schools perform very well."

Nationally schools in the city have done very well with York's LEA coming among the top five in terms of points per students, just below North Yorkshire.

Updated: 11:09 Saturday, April 05, 2003