THE ‘fairness’ of school league tables is largely a matter of opinion.

Heads prefer whichever system shows their school in the best light. As schools compete for scarce secondary pupils in an environment where resources are diverted to a superfluous ‘free’ school, marketing is all.

The main problem with league tables is the way in which they influence the curriculum. When vocational subjects ‘counted’, resources were diverted into them irrespective of the needs of pupils.

Now that the tables are based on a narrow range of traditional academic subjects, the opposite is true.

The problem is not, as Herefordshire Associat- ion of Secondary Heads chairman Dean Williams states, with the complexity of league tables (Inaccurate exam tables under fire, herefordtimes.com, February 6), but with their subjectivity.

Changing the way in which school performance is measured has a great effect on league tables, as does the effectiveness of the schools.

The subjects which count depend on the often ill-informed opinion of those in power and some headteachers play the system.

League tables are now often used as an excuse for forced academisation of schools deemed not to be performing ‘excellently’ enough.

Three decades in the classroom have shown me that so many important things that go on in schools cannot be measured by league tables – such as the personal development of a child and growth in skills.

As a local resident, teacher and parent, I recognise that schools are much more than exam statistics.

The hard work of dedicated teachers and support staff that make Herefordshire’s schools so relatively successful are repaid by the Tory/Lib Dem coalition’s undermining of their pay and conditions. I deplore the fragmentation of the system that has resulted from academisation and that our county has one of the highest proportions of primary academies.

I rue the loss of democratic oversight and lack of common services that academisation has brought.

I wholeheartedly support Labour’s commitments to proper negotiations with staff, including support staff, Labour’s focus on technical education and the 50% who do not go on to university.

I also support Labour’s plan to reintroduce local accountability through responsibility for provision of pupil places and school building.

ANNA CODA Labour Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Hereford and South Herefordshire, Peterchurch