FOR the first time ever, the Free Press has revealed the 11-plus results tables for all middle schools across the county.

The data shows the results for children who sat the test in the 2005/2006 academic year, to begin at secondary schools in September 2006.

The information was provided by Buckinghamshire County Council.

The former education correspondent of the Free Press, Pat Bramley, had not been able to access these figures in the past.

She said: "It's dynamite, we've never been able to get this before. Not even parents at the school gates would get this information. I welcome this - I think parents should have the choice of where to send their children."

Readers trying to make any comparison should note that numbers of people enrolled by different schools vary widely from a handful to around 100.

Debbie Munday, admissions manager for BCC, explained some of the figures, including the Number of pupils withdrawn from the 11-plus test' column.

She said: "That's parental choice. If they are at a Bucks school we automatically opt every pupil in to take the test. There are a number of reasons why a parent would withdraw a child. It might be for political reasons, of if there may be no expectation of the child passing, or if they have special needs, for example."

She also went on to explain that every school in the county operates a standard procedure to prepare pupils for the test.

She said: "Each child is provided with a familiarisation and practice pack'. These include five short sessions that can either be worked through with a teacher at class, or with a parent - usually that is only if the school is based outside Bucks. Then three more tests mimic the 11-plus itself. Then, the pupils take the two tests, and the best mark of the two is put forward."

Schools are not permitted to give any additional coaching, according to county council regulations.

The 11-plus test is made up of 80 questions sat in examination conditions, and questions involve logic, the meanings of words, the process of working out certain patterns and similar, often logic-based questions. The score needed for grammar school selection is 121. You can see the results table in today's edition of the Bucks Free Press