Witham's secondary schools are continuing to make good progress, say headteachers.

The claims come following last week’s publication of the new school league tables for exams taken in 2013.

At GCSE level, schools are ranked based on the percentage of pupils who achieved five or more A* to C grades including English and maths.

Maltings Academy, in Spinks Lane, is 58th out of the 87 schools in Essex that are ranked.

The percentage of its pupils achieving five A* to C grades climbed from 51 in 2012 to 56 per cent.

New Rickstones Academy, in Conrad Road, is ranked 72nd, with 49 per cent of pupils achieving the benchmark grades, compared with 43 per cent the previous year.

In Braintree, Alec Hunter Academy was inside the bottom ten per cent of Essex schools, coming 80th out of the 87 schools that were ranked.

The low ranking came despite the percentage of pupils who achieved five A* to C grades rising from 36 to 40 per cent.

At Notley High School, which is ranked 55th, the percentage of pupils achieving the benchmark grades fell from 64 per cent to 58 per cent.

Tabor Academy, ranked 77th, also saw a drop in results with the percentage of pupils achieving five A* to C grades falling by eight per cent, from 54 per cent to 46 per cent.

Honywood School, in Coggeshall, is the highest ranked school in the area.

It is 33rd, despite the percentage of pupils achieving the benchmark dropping from 72 per cent to 69 per cent.

See this week's Times for the full story