A TOWN academy has defended its exam results after being named among the country's worst performers at GCSE and A level.
Goole High School is ranked in the bottom 200 state schools for the GCSE gold standard of five or more A* to C grades, including English and maths.
It is also in the bottom 200 at A level or equivalent, ranked by the average points score per candidate.
Headteacher Danuta Tomasz admitted the academy was "deeply disappointed".
She said: "Achievement has improved year on year over a period of time and tables like these simply do not reflect the work that has gone into this improvement. "They are also highly selective in what they show."
Mrs Tomasz claimed indicators for progress, particularly for disadvantaged pupils, would give the academy "a significantly higher ranking".
But she insisted the academy was not complacent, nor making excuses.
She said: "While these public rankings are disappointing, we have to put the historic data behind us and put our energies into what matters and that is to ensure this current Year 11 do even better.
"But we need to achieve this without sacrificing the breadth of the curriculum or the enjoyment factor of school or by simply turning out students who are good at passing exams.
"In the end we want our students to have the appropriate qualifications but also to have the skills and qualities to be economically successful adults.
"Both aspects are of equal importance and data-driven rankings do not reflect that fact."
The academy, which broke away from local authority control in 2011, is the only East Riding school performing below the Government's "floor target" of 40 per cent of pupils achieving five good GCSEs.
Councillors raised concerns about a lack of public accountability for academies after Goole High School declined requests to attend a scrutiny committee last year.
But the academy insisted it had been unable to attend for genuine reasons and an invitation was issued for councillors to visit.
The council's schools portfolio holder Councillor Julie Abraham and scrutiny committee chairman Councillor Kerri Harold are to visit the academy on Monday.
Cllr Harold said: "The academies are still teaching East Riding students so, at the end of the day, it's about making sure every pupil in the East Riding gets the best education they possibly can."
She said the council recently issued a plea to the Government for powers to keep a check on academies that have broken away from local authority control.
She said: "It is up to the Government to make it clear what powers local authorities have with regard to academies."