NEW secondary school league tables panicked parents and sent teachers into fury yesterday after busybody ministers moved the goalposts once again.

Annual rankings showed that the number of schools considered under-performers had doubled in the past year, following the Department for Education’s decision that resits could not be included in the figures.

Con-Dem ministers have also stripped vocational subjects out of the equation in a push to make students study “traditional” academic subjects regardless of their strengths and preferences.

Schools are labelled failures if fewer than 40 per cent of students get five Cs at GCSE including English and maths — 330 schools fell short this year, up from 154 last year.

Tory Education Secretary Nicky Morgan labelled vocational courses “poor quality qualifications” yesterday, urging parents not to be rattled.

“Now pupils are spending more time in the classroom, not constantly sitting exams, and 90,000 more children are taking core academic subjects that will help them succeed in work and further study,” she smarmed.

But teaching union NASUWT was not impressed. “Every year the coalition government has changed the basis on which school performance is measured,” general secretary Chris Keates said.

“It’s unacceptable that schools, teachers, parents and children are subjected to this negative annual ritual.”

And the National Union of Teachers described league tables as “a ridiculous way to judge schools” — saying they failed to take account of the pressure on schools serving poor pupils and those with special educational needs.

NUT general secretary Christine Blower said: “A fairer and more robust method of measuring the effectiveness of our schools and the progress that all pupils make in them is urgently needed.

“In the meantime parents and carers would be better informed if they paid a visit to their local school and spoke with other parents and the leadership team.”

National Association of Head Teachers leader Russell Hobby warned that schools had been “tripped up by last-minute changes to eligibility and methods of calculation.”

He said: “It is now time for the government to stop interfering in examinations on ministerial whim and let schools focus on teaching.”