HAMPSHIRE has some of the best independent schools in the country, according to figures released today.

League tables based on last week’s A-level results reveal the county has four fee-paying schools in the top 100 nationally.

The figures, released by the Independent Schools Council, (ISC) show King Edward VI School in Southampton is the best-performing private sixth-form in Hampshire.

The Kellett Road school was ranked as the joint-70th best in the country according to the average number of points students achieved on the system devised by university admissions service UCAS.

King Edward’s average score of 410 points is roughly equivalent to getting three As and a C.

St Swithun’s School in Winchester, which was placed 99th overall nationally, achieved an average point score of 398 – virtually the equivalent of three As and an E grade.

The highest-performing independent school in the country, Wycombe Abbey School in Buckinghamshire, recorded an average point score of 549.

More than a quarter of King Edward students gained the new A* grade in their A-levels, with 91 per cent passing with grades A* to B.

And more than half have left the school with at least three A grades or more.

No one from the school was available for comment on the league tables yesterday, but headmaster Julian Thould, who is currently in South Africa, last week expressed his joy at the grades achieved.

He said: “We are delighted that our students have again done so well.

“These are exceptional results and show what sustained hard work and excellent teaching can achieve.

“We are particularly pleased with the very high proportion of students who obtained the new A* grade.”

Other Hampshire schools to make the UK top 100 were Portsmouth High School and Farnborough Hill.

The ISC represents around 1,260 private schools across the UK, but the figures do not include the results of around 86 schools, including Eton College, Winchester College and St Paul’s, which have decided to boycott the tables again this year.

Results for the International Baccalaureate and Cambridge Pre-U and other courses have not been included in the tables, either because UCAS points have not been awarded to part of the qualification or it is not possible from the data to accurately attribute UCAS points.