Where to track down value added score?

[itwillbebetter]

Our school (non selective indie) has published a dire set of results. It is non selective with a quite large proportion of SEN. Even taking this into account the GCSE results were dire.

DS has told me that the results were not unexpected with this particular year group. Where do I find value added score for this and other schools so I can compare?
I want to arm myself with as many facts as possible so that they can't put a spin on the results when I question them. I find it quite hard to make sense of all that is published as there seems to be many formats and ways to hide bad results!

They won't be available until the end of September, when the school examinations officer uploads the data to CEMcentre (or equivalent). You should be able to get it directly from the school.

I don't think there is an obligation on private schools to publish data like this, is there?

Are the results significantly worse than last year?

Yes the results were significantly worse! a-c pass this year was 43% against 81% last year 20% were a*s/a.
No significant teachers changed though, so could it be explained by being a very non academic year group? There would have only have been about 20 students in the year.

Where do I find value added score for this and other schools so I can compare?

You don't, or at least not meaningfully. The standard value added figures are based on the progress from KS2 SATs to end of KS4 as measured by GCSE (et c) results. This works because most state secondary school pupils are state primary school pupils and therefore took KS2 SATs.

In the independent sector, a substantial portion of the secondary pupils will have been in independent primaries; they don't have to do SATs, and although some independent primaries do them voluntarily, a lot don't. Additionally, value added measures aren't meaningful, or have massive error bars, for small cohorts, which are typical of independent schools. And finally, of course, independent schools are under no obligation to publish anything.

I had a hilarious conversation some years ago who first said that one of the benefits of private education was escaping the horrors (sic) of pointless (sic) testing and the fascist (sic sic) accountability measures, and then complained that it was hard to find out how private schools were doing because of the lack of published data. The phrase "make your fucking mind up" sprang unbidden to mind.

There would have only have been about 20 students in the year.

Even a state school would not be able to publish a meaningful VA score for a cohort that small.

With a cohort of 20, the standard deviation (natural error margin) of the VA and GCSE results will be around 5%

the only people who will know will be the teachers seeing the tracking data - assuming private schools have it in as much detail as state schools

With a cohort of 20, the standard deviation (natural error margin) of the VA and GCSE results will be around 5%

950 is a very weak school indeed and 1050 would make you one of the highest performing schools in the country, so error bars of 50 make the numbers pretty much useless.

And DfE figures are reported in terms of sub-cohorts, which are KS2 4. Those sub-cohorts have larger error bars on them even in standard-sized comps, obviously, but are still useful (they're reported in the tables with upper and lower confidence limts). A common situation is a school which is doing well with high attainers but badly with lower attainers, or vice versa, but in the case of the OP's school, the error bars on such figures would be so wide as to be completely meaningless.

A cohort of 20??!! That screams SEN to me. It also explains the very variable results. I would go elsewhere. What meaningful sport and music is there? A very non academic cohort. I agree.

Many independent school track value-added based on MidYIS predictions at the start of Y7 to actual GCSE results.

This is far superior to anything based on Y6 SATs.

Milly, small schools may not produce the best music and sports, but they ensure that everyone participates. There is no such thing as an audition.

" There is no such thing as an audition."

Oh, joy.

Yes I agree about participation but quality can be sacrificed. Not all schools require auditions - plenty have music for everyone. Also team sports are more or less off the agenda at a really small school. Therefore such a small school is really appealing to a very niche market. Given that most senior schools are bigger than this I think there are few parents who actually want this size of school and are prepared to pay for it. Unless it is for dyslexia and is a specialist school - which it could be. If so, it is likely to have uneven results.

Was going to say similar. Dds school doesn't publish value added as some havnt done SATS & there is a cohort of between 20-30 per year.

Just one or two SEN children cdm skew statistics wildly in such a small cohort.

In a small school, every child is First Team material.
They grow up thinking and expecting that
which is exactly why the parents pay for it

At senior schools they, actually, do not. Hence the number of secondary schools with 20 in a cohort is vanishingly small and probably not economically viable. What range of subjects can there possibly be? Yep - all first team material, even the ones who hate sport, and guaranteed to lose every match - is this fun? Teaches winning is not everything I guess. I do agree wth that. However, would I pay for it?

No sport at dds school so that side of things isn't an issue.

I think specialist performing arts schools are different though, balletgirlmum - if I understand where you are coming from. The performing arts school near me does pretty well at GCSE and A level though even though children are chosen because they dance well and then spend every morning doing it. They don't do any sport there either but the dance, theatre and music are brilliant.