Guidance

Understanding school and college performance measures

Published 31 March 2016

Overview

The compare school and college website covers 3 main phases of education:

• primary education – the performance measures report on the achievements of pupils at the end of primary education in year 6 (key stage 2)
• secondary education – the performance measures report on the achievement of pupils at the end of secondary education in year 11 (key stage 4)
• 16 to 18 education – the performance measures report on the achievements of 16 to 18 year olds when they reach the end of study

Attainment and progress

It’s important to look at more than one performance measure when comparing schools and colleges to get a full picture of how it’s performing. While attainment figures tell you about the performance of a school or college’s pupils at the end of a key stage, it’s important to consider that pupils have varying levels of ability and many different starting points.

Some pupils may seem to be achieving low results based on their overall attainment at the end of a key stage. However, a pupil’s progress score will take into account their attainment at the end of the previous key stage, and the progress they have made since that point compared to pupils with similar starting points. When this is taken into account a school or college may in fact be helping their pupils achieve better results than other schools or colleges with similar pupils nationally.

Low, middle or high attainers

In the performance data, we group pupils at key stage 2 and key stage 4 as low, middle or high prior attainers depending on their attainment at the end of key stage 1 and key stage 2.

You should consider how well each of a school’s prior attainment groups are progressing. This is an indication of whether a school is equally effective at helping all of its pupils meet their potential rather than, for example, just the previous high attainers.

Read the school and college performance tables supporting documents for information on how we calculate performance measures in more depth.

Calculating the performance measures

We match pupil information from schools and colleges with the relevant test, teacher assessment or exam results we gather from local authorities and qualification awarding organisations.

This gives a single record of attainment and characteristics (for example ethnicity or special educational needs) for each pupil at the end of each key stage.

We then match information about what the pupil goes on to do after finishing the key stage to their record, to calculate their destinations.

We use these records to calculate performance measures for each pupil. For example, we analyse each key stage 4 pupil’s results to see whether they have achieved a grade 5 or above in approved English and maths qualifications.

We then aggregate pupil-level performance measures to give the overall results for:

• schools and colleges
• local authorities
• England as a whole

Read about the methodology we use to calculate results:

• Primary school accountability technical guide
• Secondary accountability measures guide
• 16 to 18 accountability headline measures technical guide)
• Statistics: destinations of key stage 4 and key stage 5 pupils

Key stage 2 – performance measures

A new curriculum introduced in 2014 changed the key stage 2 assessments and primary accountability policy. This raised the expected standard and as a result, since 2016, we have new key stage 2 performance measures which should not be compared with the previous measures.

The 2018 headline measures are:

• percentage of pupils achieving the expected standard in English reading, English writing and maths at the end of key stage 2
• percentage of pupils who reach a higher standard in English reading, English writing and maths
• pupils’ average scaled score in English reading and maths at the end of key stage 2
• pupils’ average progress in English reading, English writing and maths

Key stage 4 – performance measures

A new secondary school accountability system was introduced in 2016. Alongside the 2016 changes in performance measures, there have been subsequent changes to qualifications arising from the reform of GCSEs, all of which make year-on-year comparisons difficult for some measures.

The headline 2018 measures are:

• progress across 8 qualifications (Progress 8)
• attainment across the same 8 qualifications (Attainment 8)
• English Baccalaureate average point score (EBacc APS), introduced in 2018
• percentage of pupils entering the English Baccalaureate (EBacc entry)
• percentage of pupils achieving a grade 5 or above in English and maths (attainment in English and maths)
• percentage of students staying in education or going into employment after key stage 4 (pupil destinations)

16 to 18 – performance measures

Policy reforms have changed the way we report performance for 16 to 18 year olds. Therefore you cannot compare the most recent data with data prior to 2016.

The 16 to 18 performance tables count both academic and high-value technical and applied qualifications at level 3. We only count rigorous vocational qualifications that are likely to lead to employment or further study.

The headline measures show:

• progress since key stage 4, which is the main focus of the 16 to 18 accountability system
• attainment measures, for example the average grades achieved in qualifications for students at a school or college
• retention measures, which report on the proportion of students that complete their studies at the school or college
• destination measures, for example students going into higher education or employment
• English and maths progress measures for students that did not achieve a grade 4 or C at key stage 4

Read more about changes to accountability measures.

Factors that can affect performance results

Data in the school and college performance tables can only show part of the picture of a school or college, its demographics and their student’s achievements.

When measuring the effectiveness of a school or college, you should consider the context of the school or college as there may be factors that can help explain its performance.

For example, you should consider:

• the school type, for example pupils in a special school (for children with special educational needs or disability) may have lower prior attainment than those in a mainstream school
• the pupils’ characteristics, for example how many are considered disadvantaged (eligible for free school meals in the last 6 years, or have been looked after by their local authority) or who have English as an additional language

You should also consider how the school or college’s performance compares to local and national results.

Comparing schools that offer unapproved qualifications

Schools that offer unapproved qualifications (for example unregulated international GCSEs) may find their performance is recorded as 0% against the headline measures (for example English Baccalaureate entry and achievement). This has an effect on the national figures.

There are other reasons why a school may have a score of 0% in threshold measures, for example attainment below grade 5 or equivalent for qualifications that count towards performance at key stage 4.

Comparing schools with small pupil numbers

When comparing schools or colleges, you should consider that differences might not be significant if you’re looking at a small year group. For example, in a group of 10 pupils, 1 pupil would represent 10% and in a group of 30 pupils, 1 pupil would represent 3%.

Small schools may see a lot of variation in their results over time due to the effect that 1 or 2 pupils’ results can have on the school average.

Comparing data year-on-year

Since 2016, there were policy changes at key stage 2, key stage 4 and 16 to 18 that mean it is not always possible to compare year-on-year results over time. For example:

• in 2017, reformed GCSEs (grades 9 to 1) were introduced in English and maths, followed by a further 20 GCSE subjects in 2018 - this has affected the way we calculate key stage 4 measures compared to previous years
• from 2018 onwards, all tech level and applied general qualifications must meet the full requirement to be reported in 16 to 18 performance tables - prior to 2018, qualifications could count in performance tables if they met interim requirements, so as a result, the list of eligible tech level and applied general qualifications changed significantly from 2017 to 2018

Data collection

We get school and college attainment data from:

• state-funded schools and colleges
• local authorities
• qualification awarding organisations (exam boards)

State-funded schools tell us via the school census:

• the number of pupils at the school
• what the pupils’ characteristics are, for example whether they’re eligible for free school meals
• what courses students are studying post-16 (learning aims)

Colleges tell us via the individualised learner record (ILR):

• the number of students at the college
• what courses students are studying post-16 (learning aims)

Local authorities tell us:

• results from key stage 1 (school years 1 and 2) – we do not publish these, but use them to measure progress between the end of key stage 1 and the end of key stage 2 (school years 3 to 6)
• teacher assessments and test results from key stage 2 – we can also get these from schools

Qualification awarding organisations tell us exam results for:

• pupils at the end of key stage 4 (years 10 and 11)
• students aged 16 to 18 (sixth form and college)

We use additional destination data sources to find out what pupils did after key stage 4 or 16 to 18 study.

Accurate and reliable data

We make sure the data is accurate and reliable in the following ways:

• we complete checks on the school census, included within these are:
  • validation rules checking the integrity of the data
  • rules checking the internal consistency of data items across the collection
  • longitudinal validation rules comparing the data from current collections with previous collections
• the Standards and Testing Agency asks local authorities to check a sample of key stage 2 teacher assessments to make sure they meet national standards
• we perform an annual run-through of the performance tables data production process using test data to identify any miscalculations and fix them before we process the real data
• we ask schools and colleges to check their performance tables results and ask for the necessary amendments (for example grade changes as a result of re-sits) before we publish final data
• qualification awarding organisations offer a review service to schools, so that they can challenge the marks or grades awarded by markers

Updating the data

School and college amendments

Schools and colleges check and amend their data during June and September checking exercises before we publish revised data. Accepted amendments are used to publish revised key stage 2 performance data in December, revised key stage 4 performance data for secondary schools in January and revised 16 to 18 performance data for schools and colleges in January and March.

Amendments requested in June are included in the key stage 4 provisional performance measures published in October. Amendments requested in September are not included in the key stage 4 provisional performance measures published in October.

It is possible that for key stage 4 and 16 to 18 pupils, some reviews of the grades requested from awarding organisations by schools and colleges will not be completed in time to affect the information included in the revised January publication. It is therefore possible that, for some schools and colleges, the published information would have been different had the results of the reviews been available earlier.

After we publish performance table data there’s a period known as errata when schools and colleges can ask for amendments to results. Normally this is to take account of late grade changes. Number on roll requests will not be considered.

If we approve an amendment, we will update the data at the end of the amendment process. We will not make further updates to the data after this period has closed. At this point, the data will be marked as final.

We will not use any changes received during this period to update the amended level 3 value added measures published in January.

We update the full datasets in the download data section of the school performance tables after the amendment period has closed.

Other updates

We use our ‘Get information about schools’ service to regularly update information we have on schools and colleges if, for example, a school:

• changes type, for example it becomes an academy
• closes or reopens
• gets a new headteacher or principal

If any of the information we hold for your school or college is incorrect, you should update the information on our ‘Get information about schools’ service.

We also publish the latest Ofsted inspection outcome on the school’s page and show when we added the latest inspection judgement.

Data that we report

Lists of the academic and vocational qualifications we count for key stage 4 and 16 to 18 are available:

• key stage 4 qualifications, discount codes and point scores
• 16 to 18 qualifications, discount codes and performance point scores.

We do not include data on all qualifications in our measures. Policy reforms mean we only count rigorous, high-value approved qualifications at key stage 4 and 16 to 18.

Overseas pupils

Pupils who have joined a school or college from overseas will not be included in progress measures, because there will not be previous attainment data available to measure their current progress.

We will still include these pupils in the attainment measures for the school, college, local authority and England averages (unless the school or college requests to remove the pupil on the grounds of exceptional circumstances).

Independent schools

We do not publish key stage 2 data for independent schools because they do not have to follow the national curriculum and their participation in key stage 2 tests is voluntary.

We do not publish the following independent secondary school data:

• Progress 8 data at key stage 4 because the majority of pupils at independent schools may take qualifications that do not count in the performance tables (they will still be included for attainment at key stage 4)
• disadvantaged measures, retention measures or completion and attainment in the 16 to 18 performance data because the information is either not available to calculate these measures or does not apply to the students at independent schools
• destination measures at key stage 4 or 16 to 18 for independent schools

16 to 18 data

We do not include performance measures on:

• 16 to 18 institutions that are not schools or colleges, for example training providers
• special schools – we only include those that have opted in

Similar qualifications (discounting)

We use key stage 4 discount codes and 16 to 18 discount codes to group qualifications with similar content together, so that we only credit schools or colleges for a single course of study if there is an overlap in curriculum. This means that if a pupil has taken 2 or more very similar subjects, we will only credit the school or college for 1 qualification.

We may need to use discounting if, for example:

• a pupil re-sits a qualification before the end of key stage 4 or 16 to 18 study
• the school or college provides a single course of study but then enters the pupil for 2 or more very similar qualifications

Read ‘Key stage 4 discounting and early entry guidance’ or ‘16 to 18 discounting guidance’ for more information.

Data that could identify pupils (suppressed data)

The Code of Practice for Official Statistics requires us to take reasonable steps to ensure that our published or disseminated statistics protects confidentiality. We assess our statistics with reference to the National Statistician’s Guidance on Confidentiality of Official Statistics and guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to establish the risk of disclosure and its associated impact and suppress the data accordingly. In our statistical releases an ‘x’ indicates a figure has been suppressed.

In the school level data, any figures relating to a cohort of 5 or fewer pupils will be suppressed. This applies to sub-groups of pupils as well as the whole cohort. For example, if there were 5 boys and 3 girls in a school, we would not publish attainment for boys or girls separately but would publish attainment for all pupils as this is based on 8 pupils.

Schools that become academies

We show academies as either converter academies (a school that voluntarily becomes an academy and does not have a sponsor) or sponsored academies (a school that becomes an academy supported by a sponsor to help it improve and with new governance arrangements).

In most cases, we treat a converter academy as a continuing school and a sponsored academy as a new school. This affects how we report results for these schools.

If a school becomes an academy before 12 September, we will publish the results for that academic year under the new academy name.

If a school becomes an academy on or after 12 September, we will:

• publish the results for that academic year under the old school name
• link to the new academy page which will provide background information only

Colleges that close, merge or amalgamate

Where a further education college has closed, or closed and merged with another college, during the academic year reported, the closed college data will not be published.

In the case of a merger, where a college closes and another remains open and subsumes the closed college, the successor college will be published with results. The students reported are likely to include only those students on roll at the successor college. The results for the following year will be based on the merged college’s students. The successor college will be published under the name of the college provided in our ‘Get information about schools’ service (this is usually the name of the merged college).

In the case of an amalgamation, where 2 colleges close and a new college opens in the academic year reported on, the new college will not be reported with results in the current year’s performance tables.