Photo: Jack Hynes on Flickr

Three Tower Hamlets secondary schools are among the 50 most improved in the UK, according to the latest figures released by the Department of Education.

The list ranks the schools based on the increase in the number of pupils who have gained five GCSEs, including Maths and English, at A* – C since 2007. The three schools in Tower Hamlets have shown massive improvements year on year, far greater than the national average.

Sir John Cass Foundation & Redcoat Church of England Secondary School is the second most improved in the UK, having increased the number of passes by 42 per cent, from 33 per cent just over three years ago to 75 per cent in 2010.

58 per cent of students at Bethnal Green Technology College achieved five A* – C GCSEs in 2010, and they ranked 14th.

At St Paul’s Way Trust Secondary School – once formally placed on ‘special measures’ by Ofsted – 46 per cent of pupils gained five GCSEs in 2010. This was an improvement of 26 per cent since 2007, putting them 32nd on the list.

Both Bethnal Green and St Paul’s Way have benefitted from transformations under the discontinued Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. Bethnal Green’s £17 million refurbishment was finished last year, while St Paul’s Way is currently undergoing a £36 million re-build.

Tower Hamlets Mayor, Lutfur Rahman, who has pledged education as one of his priorities, said: “It’s excellent to see so many of our schools achieving the results they deserve.

“We’ve supported schools in raising attainment levels and the hard work of our teachers, pupils and parents is paying off.”