Lewisham Council said 'clearly [the] progress needs to speed up' in the ongoing improvement at its schools after the latest government figures based on GCSE results were released.

The council accepted it was a 'mixed picture' across the borough, although pupils' attainment again improved in 2017.

Attainment 8 is a new way of calculating pupil achievement.

It measures the achievement of a pupil across eight qualifications, with mathematics and English given extra weight.

In England the average attainment 8 score was 44.6 in 2017, a score that on average schools in Lewisham were under.

The average score in Lewisham was 44.2.

Prendergast School was the top-performing school in the borough, with a score of 56.6.

Following Prendergast was Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College, with a score of 52.7.

A Lewisham Council spokesperson said: “The DfE publication of the GCSE results shows a mixed picture across Lewisham, especially in the progress made by the pupils from when they arrived in the school at 11 years old to when they took their GCSEs (progress 8).

“It is important too to note that overall Lewisham saw an improvement in attainment figures in 2017 and this reflects an improving picture from 2015.

“Clearly this progress needs to speed up. As a council working in partnership with all our schools, we have not shied away from recognising that improvements are needed in the attainment and progress in our secondary schools.

"As a result we set up Lewisham Secondary Challenge in the summer of 2016 with the declared mission of improving the provision for all out pupils across all our schools. Since then we have seen an improvement in the Ofsted gradings of our secondary schools, improved school attendance, reduced exclusions and improvements in our GCSE attainment."

Here is a full list of schools, ranked by attainment 8, based on data released by the government.

Prendergast School - 56.6

Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College - 52.7

Bonus Pastor Catholic College - 51.9

Sydenham School - 51.7

St Matthew Academy - 48.8

Prendergast Vale School - 47.2

Trinity Church of England School, Lewisham - 46.3

Haberdashers' Aske's Knights Academy - 42.6

Forest Hill School - 42.4

Deptford Green School - 40.4

Conisborough College - 40.2

Addey and Stanhope School - 39.9

Prendergast Ladywell School - 39.5

Sedgehill School - 35.5