THE results contained in today's so-called league tables must always come with a health warning don't believe everything you see in statistics.

They give a general indication of the performance of Swindon's schools, but mask 101 different influencing factors and individual circumstances.

In some cases, those circumstances are exceptionally difficult.

As we have illustrated on the previous pages, Swindon schools are hit hard by a lack of money from central government.

On top of that, they have been let down by the local education authority, which has failed to offer them enough support. This inadequacy was shown by Swindon Council's damning Ofsted report, which detailed the breakdown in its relationship with schools.

That is the double whammy all Swindon schools suffer, but for some the difficulty does not end there.

Churchfields School is an example of what can happen when these factors coincide with already challenging circumstances.

The school was in special measures after failing its Ofsted inspection when the council dumped hundreds of pupils from the closed Oakfield School on its doorstep, with little or no help given to integrate them.

That is not the fault of the former Oakfield pupils or the school, but it has played a major part in the decline in standards shown today. The school says it will improve next year and we wish it the best of luck.

Unfortunately, in the case of all our schools, a lot of luck will never make up for the appalling underfunding they receive.

Overall, today's results show most of our schools performing above the national average. Indeed, the average for the town is brought down only because a minority of schools are not performing so well.

That is remarkable when set against the extraordinary challenges our schools face, but just imagine what could be achieved if they were given a level playing field.

We will present this newspaper to Education Secretary Estelle Morris when she arrives in Swindon today. Hopefully, she will feel ashamed enough to take real action to change what is a haphazard, unjustifiable and discriminatory funding formula.