Schools to publish results for each subject at GCSE

League tables showing results in each subject at every school could be published next year.

The "super league tables" would aim to discourage schools from using vocational qualifications to boost GCSE scores. Parents would be able to look up ratings for specific exams, such as music or Latin, and create their own comparisons.

Currently, the Government publishes the percentage of students getting five good GCSE results at each school, but does not break it down into individual subjects. Education sources said this had led to schools entering pupils for vocational exams, which are counted as a GCSE in league tables. The new system would make it clear what vocational qualifications pupils are taking, instead of classing them as GCSEs.

A source close to Education Secretary Michael Gove told the Standard: "While England's education system slipped behind in the world, the last government hid the real performance of schools. Their league table measures artificially rose over time thanks to schools gaming the system.

"We will publish as much data as possible so parents and teachers can really see what is going on." The source said work would be done to protect pupils' identities. Data for the new tables, which could be introduced as early as next year, would be published online.

But some headteachers warned parents would be bombarded with too much information, and could use data taken out of context.

Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, told the Times Education Supplement: "Raw data on its own does not tell you the full story and can lead to false conclusions."