Three Jewish comprehensives in Times top 10 this year

Michael Sutton, headmaster of King David, said the award was “great testament to the hard work and dedication shown by King David’s students, staff, parents, governors and wider community. The spirit of this school is embodied in the word kehillah.

“We are told that kehillah is the best type of community – one which recognises the individuality of its constituent members, working together for a common good. This has enabled us to develop and grow our Jewish ethos into one which places us at the heart of the Liverpool Jewish community as well as being a welcoming school to a diverse student body of many cultures, faiths and nationalities.”

The vast majority of the school’s pupils come from outside the Jewish community.

Sutton said that over the past year, “we have worked closely with members of the Muslim and Christian communities — both within and outside the school — to proactively ensure we all feel supportive of each other especially in times when this goes against the grain.

“We have completed a memorial project which involved the production of a sculpture, the first to commemorate the Holocaust on Merseyside. This was, again a unifying experience and one which reached far beyond the school and into the city as a whole.”

Its development plans next year include a cafe and modern study area for its sixthformers, he said.

In the list of top private schools, Immanuel College was ranked joint 128th nationally. Its GCSE results include IGCSEs (international GCSEs) which are not included in the Department for Education tables but counted by The Times. Its average points score of 69.4 per pupil would have placed it top of the GCSE list for Jewish schools.