ONE more year and another set of league tables has the nation scrutinising which school is the best.

There's the one with the best GCSE pass rate, the best average A-level total of points, the best average A-level point, and the most grade A's.

Then there are those at the bottom, those with the lowest GCSE pass rate and highest truancy rates, and then there are the most improved schools.

Such a lot to look out for, especially when looking for prospective schools.

Where do you start? Do you judge a school by its overall success, what Ofsted inspectors find, or what the school can do for your child?

Well they all have a part to play, but the most important in my opinion is how much a school can develop your child's mind.

The league tables don't show us that, for this is only a new concept developed by the Department of Education and Skills.

Two hundred schools took part in the pilot of 'value added'.

It's a simple yet complicated, if that can be so idea that determines to show how much 'value' a school has added to the child from the minute they started the autumn term in Year 7 to the final GCSE exam.

Schools which score 100 per cent GCSE success (i.e. five or more A* to C grades) because of naturally gifted pupils will have to work hard to prove they've added value.

Schools that have an intake of pupils with below average intellect but turn them around to achieving more than they could have hoped for will be seen as adding value.

It's just the maths that goes into it that makes it complicated.

Next year we'll see the value added scores of schools such as The Chantry High School 65 per cent pass rate; Nunnery Wood High School 45 per cent; and Elgar Technology 19 per cent.

Let those future scores, visits to the schools and inspector reports help persuade you into naming the school best for your child.