What’s Progress 8 good for? Lower-attaining pupils
Progress 8 might not reveal much about the effectiveness of schools but it has reduced the incentive for schools to focus their efforts on pupils at the borderline of grade C/D (4/3 nowadays)
The incidence of special educational needs since the introduction of the new Code of Practice
We look at how identification of SEN has changed since the introduction of the new SEN code of practice in September 2014
The rate at which pupils left the state-funded mainstream school sector fell during the pandemic (but not among pupils with EHC plans)
We investigate the rate at which pupils have been leaving the state-funded education system
To what extent is the KS2 disadvantage gap explained by pupil absence?
We investigate the relationship between the latest set of KS2 results and pupil absence
Digging further into the Key Stage 2 attainment gap
Official figures show a worrying increase in the disadvantage gap index since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. We look into the changes in more detail.
Key Stage 4 attainment in 2022: The headlines
Some headline indicators from our collection of Key Stage 4 data from schools this year, plus a few thoughts looking ahead to Progress 8
Independent schools might not have gamed the system but the grades they awarded in 2020 and 2021 were still unfair
We look at the increase in A*-A grades awarded by independent schools compared to other schools and colleges and ask whether it seems reasonable given differences pre-pandemic
Why don’t more pupils study modern foreign languages at GCSE?
We look at how entry numbers for GCSEs in modern foreign languages have changed over the last few years
Some more things we’ve learned about schools’ GCSE results
We present some rough analysis of data from FFT's early results service