Naming the best school in Harrow could go two completely different ways, depending how you read the new league tables.

For the first time this year, the government is using two methods of scoring – Progress 8 for pupil improvement and Attainment 8 to measure exam results.

Sacred Heart Language College, in Wealdstone, was the top-performing school for GCSEs in the borough, going by its Attainment 8 score of 60.9.

However, Progress 8 has been introduced to level the playing field and put a focus on pupil improvement rather than final exam results.

This is because schools which have selective admissions or have a more privileged catchment area have an advantage in exam results, but may not show as much improvement over the years.

Harrow secondary schools on the whole are performing above the national average under Progress 8.

Progress 8 charts pupils’ individual improvement from leaving primary to finishing secondary school.

It measures change in attainment across eight subjects and, through complex mathematics, assigns a score to each pupil where 0 is the national average, negative numbers are below it and positive numbers are above.

League table figures released by the Department for Education yesterday show Harrow schools have an average 0.32 Progress 8 score, meaning the borough is above the national average.

When the tables are ordered in this way, Bentley Wood High School in Stanmore comes out on top with a 0.70 score while Sacred Heart comes third with 0.48.

Of the 10 secondary schools given a Progress 8 score – special and independent school are exempt – six have a score considered at least “above” the national average.

These include Whitmore High School (0.63), Canons High School (0.47) and Hatch End High School (0.42).

No Harrow schools received a negative Progress 8 score, while four are considered “average” by the DfE, including Park Hill School (0.06) and Rooks Heath College (0.02).