Dave Thomson, Author at FFT Education Datalab

About Dave Thomson

Dave Thomson is chief statistician at FFT with over fifteen years’ experience working with educational attainment data to raise attainment in local government, higher education and the commercial sector. His current research interests include linking education and workplace datasets to improve estimates of adult attainment and study the impact of education on employment and benefits outcomes.

The relationship between Progress 8 and Ofsted judgments for disadvantaged schools

Looking at inspections since the introduction of Progress 8.

By Dave Thomson|2019-03-20T16:56:02+00:0011th July 2018|Pupil demographics, School accountability|

How do qualification entry rates differ between schools and multi-academy trusts?

Including details of a new report for FFT Aspire users.

By Dave Thomson|2019-10-31T11:47:45+00:0014th June 2018|Exams and assessment|

Value added measures in performance tables: A recap of the main issues for secondary schools

Announcing a new report for secondary schools that gives a different way of looking at value added.

By Dave Thomson|2019-10-31T11:47:54+00:0014th May 2018|School accountability|

Value added measures in performance tables: A recap of the main issues for primary schools

Announcing a new report for primary schools that gives a different way of looking at value added.

By Dave Thomson|2019-10-31T12:13:32+00:0014th May 2018|School accountability|

Progress 8: What if we started at the beginning?

A look at how Progress 8 scores would change if they were calculated purely based on those pupils on-roll in Year 7.

By Dave Thomson|2018-09-27T17:15:46+01:0027th April 2018|Exams and assessment, School accountability, School improvement|

Difficult questions about some schools’ Key Stage 2 results

This research explores Progress 8 scores by feeder primary school – including a resource allowing secondary schools to see their own data.

By Dave Thomson|2024-02-08T16:54:43+00:0017th April 2018|Exams and assessment, School accountability|

Why do pupils who went to infant and first schools appear to underperform at Key Stage 4?

Is it real underperformance, or something else? The Datalab team take a look at the issue.

By Dave Thomson|2018-09-27T17:18:28+01:0028th March 2018|Exams and assessment, School accountability, School improvement, Structures|

Why is the performance of MATs so extreme?

Answer: It isn’t. So why ask the question? Well, among the glut of statistics published by the Department for Education on Thursday was a statistical first release on the performance of multi-academy trusts (MATs) [PDF]. At the top of the second page was this curious chart. At first glance, this looks rather alarming. It seems to [...]

By Dave Thomson|2018-02-02T09:09:22+00:0028th January 2018|Exams and assessment, School accountability, Structures|

Key Stage 5 performance tables 2017: Do minimum standards meet the standard?

Minimum performance standards for 16-18 Level 3 (A-Level and equivalent) attainment were first introduced in 2016. Separate standards were defined for academic qualifications (primarily A-Levels) and applied general qualifications (primarily BTECs). The standards are based on value added measures that control for pupil attainment at Key Stage 4. For academic qualifications, the minimum standard in [...]

By Dave Thomson|2018-09-27T17:23:47+01:0025th January 2018|Post-16 provision|