If you love data (don’t we all!) then today is your lucky day. The Secondary School Performance Tables have been released and according to the Department for Education (DfE) they contain ‘400% more information’ than last year. There is so much to look at that the DfE has provided a video guide on how to use the league tables.
All of the data is available for you to enjoy on the DfE website and you can breakdown the results in a myriad of different ways.
Regional news
Most improved school in the country
Congratulations to Fyndoune Community College, Durham, which is the most improved school in the country! In 2011, 80% of its pupils achieved five or more GCSEs at grade C and above, compared to 26% in 2008.
Principal Trevor Dunn said: "We're delighted. The staff in the school, the students and parents in the community, are all thrilled that we've gone from a low point in 2008 - when really, things weren't as they should be - to a point in 2011 where they have obviously been really strong.
"The school was also rated as outstanding by Ofsted in November, so it's been a good year. We were very pleased to get that rating as an official stamp of approval that we're doing well."
North East schools below the floor targets
Both Middlesbrough and Newcastle LAs are in the list of 10 local authorities with the highest percentage of secondary schools below the floor targets. Middlesbrough, which has the highest proportion below the floor target of any LA nationally, has 28.6% of schools below the floor targets, and Newcastle has 18.2% of the area’s schools below. However, in both cases this actually only equates to 2 schools.
Currently a secondary school is below the floor standard if:
- Fewer than 35% of pupils achieve the basic standard of five A* to C grade GCSEs inc English and maths and
- Fewer pupils make good progress in English between KS2 and KS4 than the national average and
- Fewer pupils make good progress in maths between KS2 and KS4 than the national average.
- In 2012, the floor targets will rise to 40% and by 2015 it will rise to 50%.
Local analysis of data
SCHOOLS NorthEast is very aware of the pitfalls of statistics and the problems arising from comparing areas but we have tried to compile a brief analysis of the region’s results by LA area. Please visit the resource section on our website to download today.
Headline figures
Darlington was the highest performing local authority with 65.8% of pupils gaining five or more GCSEs (at grades A* to C, including English and maths) compared to 58.7% nationally (for state funded schools).
Middlesbrough LA had the lowest percentage of pupils gaining five or more GCSEs (at grades A* to C, including English and maths) in the region with 41.10%.
EBACC
Gateshead topped the region for the EBacc with 17.8% of students meeting the requirements compared with 7.4% in Middlesbrough and 15.4% of state funded schools nationally.
Narrowing the gap
All areas of the region were below the national average for the percentage of disadvantaged pupils making expected progress in English (54.3%) and Maths (44.2%). In English, Durham had the highest percentage in the region, 53.40%, compared to Hartlepool who had the lowest percentage with 41.1%.
In Maths, Darlington had the highest percentage (36.7%) on this measure, whilst Stockton had the lowest percentage with28.6% of disadvantaged pupils making the expected progress.
Pupil progress
Durham had the highest percentage of low attainers making expected progress in English (44.9%) whilst Sunderland had the highest percentage of low attainers making expected progress in Maths (25.10%). But on these measures, all areas of the region are below the national averages of 48% for English and 26.8% for Maths.
For middle attainers, on average schools in Darlington, Durham, and North and South Tyneside achieve above the national average of 70.8% making expected progress in English but only Darlington is above the national average (64.60%) in Maths.
Darlington, Durham and Gateshead have the highest percentages of high achieving pupils making expected progress in English with Gateshead topping the list with 90.30% compared to a national average of 87.20%. In Maths, only Northumberland was above the national average (85.2%) with 86.3% of high achievers making expected progress.
National headline statistics
On average, 58.2% of pupils in state schools achieved five or more A* to C grades including English and Maths.
34% of those in care or on free school meals achieve five good GCSE passes, including English and Maths, compared to 58% for all pupils in state schools.
in 524 schools, at least 50% of pupils who had been considered to be low-achieving at their primary schools managed to gain five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C, including English and maths.
One in 15 (6.5%) pupils starting secondary school in England "behind" for their age goes on to get five good GCSEs including English and maths.
18% of students nationally achieved the EBacc last summer, compared to 16% the year before.
107 schools in the country are failing to reach minimum standards (of at least 35% of pupils expected to gain five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C, including English and maths) compared to 216 secondaries last year.
In 125 schools – not including special schools – no pupil was entered for either history or geography. Some 94 of these schools were fee-paying. In 77 schools, no pupil was entered for a language GCSE.
Comment on the publication of the performance tables
Speaking about the league tables, Schools Minister Nick Gibb challenged schools to raise standards saying:
“Today’s figures reveal a shocking waste of talent in many schools across the country. All too often, pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds aren’t given the same opportunities as their peers. But there are great examples of schools achieving the best for their disadvantaged pupils. If they can get it right, then so can all schools.
Children only have one chance at education. These tables show which schools are letting children down. We will not hesitate to tackle underperformance in any school, including academies. Heads should be striving to make improvements year on year, and we will not let schools coast with mediocre performance”.
Labour Shadow Education Minister Stephen Twigg used his statement to accuse the Government of focussing on ‘pet projects’:
“It’s great to see many young people doing well. I’m particularly proud of the achievement of pupils in academies, which Labour set up, whose results have improved by nearly twice the level seen across all schools.
“However, these results show that the Government needs a clear plan to raise standards in all schools in England. While many pupils, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds are not achieving their potential, the Government is promoting pet projects over real need.
“The Government needs to focus on the 3Rs as well. In the last term of the Labour Government, the numbers of pupils in all schools getting A*-C GCSE grades in English and Maths alone rose from 46.8% in 2006 to 54% in 2010. But if the Government wants to promote English and Maths across the education system it cannot simply focus its attention on the minority of academies and free schools, or the EBacc which is only taken by around one in eight pupils. “
Union leaders have spoken out about the limitations of league tables and the problems created by the publication of performance measures. Some Unions, however, welcomed the Governments move to the publication of a wider range of measures.
ASCL General Secretary Brian Lightman said:
“The minister says he wants schools to stop prioritising their rankings in exam league tables, but measures like the EBacc and floor standards make it difficult and in some cases dangerous for schools to ignore the tables. As long as the government emphasis is on just a few measures, there will be perverse incentives to focus on certain subjects and certain groups of students. This was the case with the unhealthy emphasis on the C grade which has been the dominant measure of school performance for many years, and in this respect the move to recognise wider measures of achievement is helpful.”
Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers stated:
"League tables do not give a genuine reflection of the achievements of head teachers, teachers or pupils. What they do show is that league tables, by their very nature, will always put some schools at the top and some at the bottom.
"The NUT has long highlighted the problem of some schools focusing on the results of borderline C-grade children, but the new system will simply swap one crude measure for another.
"Although the Government claims the new information about GCSE results will measure progress for children from the highest to the lowest attaining, the league table system is still flawed and will still create a situation in which schools are concentrating on results rather than on providing the broad and balanced education to which every child is entitled.
Your view
Let us know what you think about the new style performance tables. Do you think league tables have a positive or negative effect on outcomes for students? Tell us your view at think@schoolsnortheast.com .