People on the ground floor carrying out teaching jobs in classrooms on a daily basis have long argued that school league tables are not the sole determiner of an institution's success.

It seems that the government is leaning more towards a teacher's perspective and schools minister David Laws has announced that secondary school league tables in England are to be redesigned. He explained the move is to take some of the emphasis away from the number of pupils achieving C grades at GCSE.

The changes will come into effect from 2016 and see schools and their teachers assessed on overall results in eight GCSE subjects. To do this, there will be four key league table measures, which will aim to make public pupils' progress as well as their final grades.

Speaking to the House of Commons, Mr Laws said he hoped the changes will reverse the "perverse incentives for schools to act in a way which is not in the best interests of pupils".

Teachers have already said that there had been too much of a focus on pupils who are on the C/D grade borderline and this has come at the detriment of students who are learning at higher or lower levels.

Mr Laws also believes the altered league tables will prevent schools in more affluent areas from "coasting", as they were previously awarded high positions without stretching young people to achieve their full potential.

The revisions will also bring new underperformance measures and minimum floor targets, which will be based on the progress pupils have made since primary school. 

National Union of Teacher's leader Christine Blower welcomed the "move away from a 'spotlight' on pupils on the C/D borderline", but expressed concern about the role of league tables in general.

Mary Bousted, ATL teachers' union leader, also supported the principle of "prioritising the progress schools make with their pupils rather than simply rewarding those with the top grades".