HAMPSHIRE’S colleges and sixth-forms largely saw their results remain steady.

Changes to the way standards are measured in further education made it difficult to compare progress over recent years but results largely stayed stable with some only a few institutions seeing a downward trend in key benchmarks.

Hampshire ranked highly in the top 200 local authorities with an average of 766.1 A-level points score per student.

Southampton and the Isle of Wight also featured in the top table with 665.8 and 662.6 respectively.

It meant principals across Hampshire had good reason to celebrate.

Barton Peveril College head Jonathan Prest said: “Barton Peveril students have performed extremely well over the past 12 months and consistently strong over three years. As the data shows, 99 per cent leave with two A-levels or more which is a good measure of success.

“Their experience at Barton has helped prepare them for higher education or for employment through work experience or volunteering. That’s one reason why 650 progressed on to university. Others have moved into employment and to higher apprenticeships.”

Totton College head Mike Gaston said the results, which showed a drop in some key performance areas, were based on a small group of less than 30 per cent of the year group.

He added that the focus of the college was on ensuring each student fulfilled their potential and that was borne out by 41 per cent of their leavers going on to high education, with a further 29 per cent into employment, six per cent into apprenticeships and five per cent into further education.

“We are confident we are moving forward and look to what Ofsted have said about the positive work we are doing at Totton,” he said.

The Arnewood School in New Milton saw big gains in their percentage point score per student, one of the key performance indicators, while Eastleigh College also registered a solid increase.

Itchen College in Southampton also secured improved results. Principal Barry Hicks said: “This is the third year running that the average points score per student has gone up which is very good news.

“We certainly are seeing an upward trend but there is always room for improvement.

I guess I always look to see where we can build on the successes we have.”