Classroom standards in Kent and Medway schools appeared to have dipped in 2014, according to official secondary league tables published today by the Department for Education.

The fall comes after several years in which GCSE results have risen but are thought to be connected to government reforms that have changed the way in which results are calculated.

According to the data, 58% of pupils in Kent schools achieved five or more GCSE passes at grades A* to C including English and maths – the government’s preferred indicator.

Last year, the rate was 63% in Kent and the decline is the first for several years.

Medway has out-performed the rest of the county - and the country - in its latest round of GCSE results.

According to official league tables from the Department for Education in Medway the percentage of pupils who achieved at least five A*-C including English and maths GCSEs last year was 58.80%.

Unusually, it puts the Towns slight in front of Kent, at 58%, and the national average of 56.6%.

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The figures seem lower than in previous years because of two major changes in the results goalposts.

In 2014 for the first time, pupils cannot retake as many times as they wish to get a better grade.

However, the Department for Education has introduced changes to the ways in which GCSE passes are measured.

A number of vocational subjects which did count towards the GCSE pass rate have been scrapped, restricting the number of qualifications permitted to be counted in the tables.

And schools are now no longer allowed to enter the “best” results of students who take some GCSE subjects more than once to improve their grades.

The “first entry” rule means that the results only count the first result – a move that is thought to have had a significant impact on a number of secondary schools, especially those that are non-selective.

The number of poorer students achieving five good GCSE passes also declined to 30% from 36% in 2013, compared to 65% of non-disadvantaged students.

John Walder, Kent branch secretary of the NUT, denounced the government's changes to the way GCSE results were calculated and warned that many schools were now dropping some subjects in order to focus on those that would improve their standing.

"It is an absolute scandal that some schools are now sidelining important subjects, like music and art. Schools do themselves no favours by excluding these subjects."

He also criticised the decision to count only the first grade secured by students in exams.

"If a child has a bad day for whatever reason, then they should be allowed to do the exam any number of times - it will not be the same exam paper. The trouble is the government sees exam results as a measure of the school. I think they are a noxious influence. If forces headteachers to do only those things that improve the school's standing."

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