THE detailed GCSE results which have been published this week will, like any information of this kind, no doubt prove controversial.

The Department for Education decided to release the data in a bid to drive up standards and make schools more accountable.

Some people will already think measures such as these, along with league tables and other comparative statistics do our schools and their pupils more harm than good.

Perhaps they simply create another bureaucratic hoop for our teachers to jump through.

And certainly information like this comes with a health warning – there is no context provided with the individual stats for these schools.

But to parents, information like this is of massive value. Knowing which school to send your children to is hard enough at the best of times, particularly with the grammar school system that still exists in Bucks.

The fact that this information is now out there will hopefully leave them better armed to make one of the most important decisions they can in their children’s lives.

Pros and cons of these statistics will be long debated, but we welcome the publication of these results and hope they will ultimately prove an asset to schools and parents alike.