My first thought on reading your article about an accolade for Winchester College (College is top school, December 14) was that it was hardly surprising given its huge fees and generous facilities. 

But other private schools charge equally eye-watering fees, some even more, so what, I thought, made Winchester a "top school"?  A closer look at the Sunday Times Parent Power Guide (the source of the awards and league tables) revealed a more nuanced picture.   

The actual tables showed that Winchester College was not the "top school" for academic results. 

Winchester came in at No. 30 in the top independent secondary school lists with St Paul's Girls' School at No. 1 (could the dominance of girls' schools explain Winchester College's decision to add some girls to the mix?).

In the regional break-down of independent secondaries, Winchester came in at No 10.  Guildford High School was No 1.  

This set me thinking about the use of words such as "top", "best", and "world-beating".  As we all know, it usually turns out that upon closer scrutiny it is not quite so simple.  There are issues of definition and qualification that get left out of the headline statements. 

Winchester College would obviously not miss an opportunity to make the most of being judged "the south-east independent secondary school of the year" but one would expect a newspaper to dig a little deeper for what that meant and to put it into the context of local schools.  

Would it not have been more pertinent to have mentioned that two sixth-form colleges in our area, Peter Symonds and Barton Peveril, came 16th and 26th in the tables for sixth-form colleges? 

This is much more interesting to the almost 9,000 mostly local students and their parents who might read your paper. It seems to me that they could equally be considered the "top" schools.  They don't charge a hefty fee but they provide a wonderful education for a lot more students than Winchester College.  

The search for something approximating the whole story is surely what a good newspaper and a good education are all about.

Andrea Owen,

Culverwell Gardens,

Winchester

Send letters by email to newsdesk@hampshirechronicle.co.uk or by post to Editor, Hampshire Chronicle, 5 Upper Brook Street, Winchester, Hampshire, SO23 8AL.

All letters and e-mails must include full names and addresses (anonymous letters will not be published), although these details may be withheld from publication, on request.

Letters of 300 words or less will be given priority, although all are subject to editing for reasons of clarity, space, or legal requirements. We reserve the right to edit letters.