KARLSRUHE (Germany) - A GERMAN teacher who had sued to shut down a website where pupils rank their instructors according to competence and 'coolness' lost her battle in court Tuesday.

The Federal Supreme Court, Germany's top civil tribunal, rejected the woman's claim that her privacy rights were violated by the site, spickmich.de, (loosely translated meaning checkmeout.de) where she received a mediocre rating from students.

'The right of students to exchange opinions and communicate freely outweighs the right of the teacher suing to determine information available about her,' the court in the southwestern city of Karlsruhe said.

The website allows students to turn the tables on teachers by grading them in categories including 'cool and funny", 'popular", 'motivated", 'relaxed' and 'teaches well'. -- AFP