Analysing the new league tables?

[Mumtogremlins]

Can anyone help me understand the league tables? What are the most important stats? Is a high English baccalaureate % essential, as they seem to really vary. Also what does average point score per pupil really mean - why would an average comp have a higher points score than a good private school? Thanks

Curlew: Gosh no, didn't think you sounding patronizing at all - not even one little bit. It seemed a bit odd and it's so easy to miss bits in statistics so genuinely wanted to see where I pooped. Thanks so much for your feedback, you're brill.

curlew, you may also be right about them lumping the low attainers in with the middle as they represent only 2% of the school and no figure has been recorded for them. Thanks again for your help :0)

Bet the school's spitting tacks at having to do that! Extraordinary to have so few low attainers- where do the others go? It's a bit like our school but the other way up.

I think another reason why very academic schools fall below other schools on VA is because they take children that have been extensively tutored to get into the school.

sobbing The top 5 schools on the list (at GCSE) all have VA figures well over 1000. The top school on the list doesn't have an extensive culture of tutoring to get in.

Where is the list you are looking at?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-25849548

at the top of the dfee set of data are the national averages and the lea averages
that at least gives you a measure to compare the school against
you can also set the filters - to block out selective schools etc : its quite nice data but not intuitive to use

I've been looking on the Telegraph website as their tables are quite easy to read for the main stats. They give total ave point score per pupil for GCSE. The supposedly good private school has same point score as local ok comp. Is this because the comp pupils take more GCSEs, therefore more points? Or is it done on best 8 results?

but are the Telegraph tables "edited" ?
just that newspapers will always spin to match the prejudice of their readers ...

when a warrior poster and I argued the toss about 6th form a while back, it turned out that the Times had played fast and loose with the criteria to make private look better

• legal - it was in the descriptors

but not transparent

When the DfE do their league tables they split students into low, mid and high ability based on their KS2 scores.

Roughly students who are working at Level 5 (or 6) at the end of Primary are classed as high ability; Level 4 mid ability and Level 3 or lower as low ability.

This means some schools may have different numbers of students in each category. Selective schools may not have any mid or low ability students at all.

Think about your child - where do they fall into those categories? How do your local schools do with similar children?

Which subjects are of most importance to you? You can get the separate value added scores for Maths, English, Science, Humanities and Languages scores for each 'type' of student through the league tables too.

Look for whether the school are using non-GCSE qualifications (such as BTECs) to boost their results. One of the tables has the average grade per subject (split into low/mid and high ability students again) and also the average grade per GCSE. If these are significantly different then that may suggest lots of non-GCSE courses are being used. That may or may not be an issue for you.

There should be separate tables for each sector. One for comps, grammar,selective indies and non selective indies, IGCSEs and GCSEs. Its so confusing trying to work out the stats when so many variables are in play.

sobbing
the filters in those tables allow you to do exactly that ....

It's so difficult to call from just statistics.

Our non-selective truly comprehensive school is slightly above average on most measures but has an amazing ebacc. This is because when the Government said languages were not compulsory, although our school didn't make students do a language we have such a fun and engaging MFL department most children wanted to carry one on. So, the school had more children who stood to qualify for this statistic (and this was before the statistic existed!). That's the problem with ebacc....it was a statistic dreamt up overnight and for a few years won't really be fair comparison from school to school.

Some info on iGCSE English here under 'The unusual English attainment of pupils in independent schools'. One version of Cambridge International iGCSE is 'unregulated' and used to count but not any more, AQA and WJEC 'did not satisfy the requirements', and some English Language exams only count if taken with English Literature.

I'd say Ebacc does count for pupils who intend to take A-levels and apply to university (e.g. more options for 'facilitating subjects' preferred by some universities). The national average is for 65% of high attainers entered for Ebacc and 52% achieving it.

If the proportion is lower, the school may not be tailoring its curriculum for its top set pupils or may not have specialist teachers in sciences/languages.