School's exam results falling

[justlumpingalong]

Just wondering how worried I should be about the drop in our school's exam results. We are not at GCSE stage yet, but I'm wondering if we should be looking around for alternatives.

It's a private school. We chose it because it had decent results but was lower pressure than most of the other local independents. But I'm worried... In 2018 40% of kids were getting 8s and 9s, and 60% 7/8/9. Very similar in 2019. Then amazing results in the covid years, which I'm pretty much ignoring, but this year just 27% got 8/9 and 47% got 7/8/9.

For context, the A level results were really weak this year too. Numbers of kids at the school is falling. It's still a healthy number, but down noticeably.

Could this just be a blip? Should I be looking elsewhere?

Hi, how old is your child?

Is the school selective in admitting students? If look somewhere else with recent result better, are those schools admit students based on academic ability for in year transfer?

@justlumpingalong , I wouldn't worry too much, my ds is at a top performing independent and they haven't produced any stats from the GCSEs y'day and I can tell you it's because they will be thinking of ways to dress them up! It was a mixed day at lots of top schools as was last week for A levels and lots of papers are being sent for review. Wait until September when the exam board reviewed papers have come back and the schools start publishing stats on their websites.

Also I would add re A levels, when the universities got the a level results they could see the "hard" mark back to 2019 grades and they accepted lots of student with less than perfect grades, this is because there weren't enough top grades handed out by the exam boards to fill the places that wanted top grades, all A stars with an A star in further maths etc.
It's been a funny year.

If it's non selective they just want them to pass and get the best out of them

They can't perform miracles

How happy is your child at this school?
Does the school deal with problems well?
How is your child doing in their work?

If you have concerns about what he's being taught you could ask a tutor to review his levels.

I would not move my child based on exam stats if they were thriving themselves.

Private schools do experience parents jumping ship in these circs, that's the nature of the sector.

"a top performing independent and they haven't produced any stats from the GCSEs y'day and I can tell you it's because they will be thinking of ways to dress them up!"

Clearly a lot of schools diffuse/polish the latest result to make it impossible to compare across.

The schools will tell you the statistics in whatever way to make them look ok: some only publish 8-9%, others only announce 7-9%, some schools only tell you number of students with all 9s, also there are schools only tell you reletive performance compared to 2019 but you don't really know the 2019 performance unless you dig in further.

Also the schools who obsessed with their league table position will wait for other competing schools to publish first then choose what the approipate statistics/wording to announce results later on.

Is it selective? 47% 7-9 in a non-selective school would be impressive. Even in a selective (but not hot house) is very good.

It is a big school? Schools with smaller cohorts often have more variability. All you need is a couple of kids who do amazingly/terribly can have a significant impact on stats.

Ultimately is your child happy? Do you think they are doing well? If yes, then I would not worry about the results.

I think you can have any of the following two but not all three: non-selective, low pressure, top grades (ie, more than 50% 7-9 level of grades kind of range). Most grammar and academic independents have both academic selection and pressure to get the grades they post on league tables.

If you chose the school over others specifically because it was low pressure you must then have had other yardsticks of evaluation of the school that don't involve grades - are those still the same? Is your child happy, are they wanting to go to school, do they have friends?

Sorry I meant to say 90+% getting 7-9 as my top grade yardstick!

"you can have any of the following two but not all three: non-selective, low pressure, top grades"

I think low pressure and top grades school hardly exist, the selective for top grades school nowadays imply a large degree of parent/self pressure for selective admissions.

Check which subjects are doing well/less well. Changes of staff and/or curriculum in particular subjects can take time to bed in.

There's not enough information in your OP.

If the school is quite small, every result is a big part of the percentage, so 2-3 students can really skew percentages.

I'd consider how happy your child is, how they are currently attaining and if they are working hard. The school clearly can get 7-9s based on the teaching, it's what your child does with it that matters.

I think govt and exam boards are considering “the covid years” as the GCSEs and a levels that had suffered without consideration of all students, especially those at transition from Primary to Secondary also missed out and were affected at a crucial moment.

Haven’t they also removed the grade boundary “covid” easing this year?

I really wouldn’t worry about it as long as teaching and learning practices remain engaging.

Too much league/results tables in this country.
Although in an see why if you’re paying for it you assume you’re getting extra chances at higher grades.

We're not loving the school TBH, which I've taken such a hard look at the results this year.

Lots of supply teachers, lots of subject being taught by non-specialists (IT taught by Spanish teacher, RE by Home Ec teacher, Physics by Geography teacher, and others that I can't remember).

DD is bright and intellectually curious but is saying that lessons are boring. I've got a strong sense that they are teaching to the middle. It's a slightly selective school but seems to have a very wide range of abilities - from about average up to extremely able. Not sure the latter are getting what they really need.

DS's school suffered from similar staffing issues and it has an impact. Difference is this was a comp in a fairly deprived area and we don't pay for it.

If your child hasn't started the GCSE pathway yet then I think looking at alternatives is reasonable.

That seems rather unusual, is that even in exam years? Private schools should be able to attract specialists, even where there is a shortage generally. Is it financially robust? What year is your dd now?

DD is in Year 8 - I suspect the specialists are saved for the GCSE years, but as @OvaHere points out, I could get similar for free at our local comp (who, I think, ought to be having specialist teachers too, BTW).

Not sure about the state of the school's finances. Is there a way of finding this out?

"Not sure about the state of the school's finances. Is there a way of finding this out"

The gov.uk publish funding allocated to each school and its breakdown every year. It is range form 5k to 7k per student per year.

@justlumpingalong you can look up schools finances on companies house if they are run as a company, the charity commission if they're run as a charity, or some publish them on their school website.

@PreplexJ yes completely agree. A school that is low-pressure and still producing top grades is likely to have to be ferociously selective - and hence has the parents applying the pressure, rather than the school. And parents who want top grades usually demand the school applies pressure too!!

DC2 was at a prep the year of the first covid lockdown where it was a real eye-opener to me - lots of parents on the whatsapp group saying they refused to do any homework or worksheets with their kids, or log onto online learning, because it was putting too much pressure on them etc. but then also expecting the school to make sure their kids got into the most academically selective schools in the country ("isn't that what we're paying for" kind of attitude).

@justlumpingalong I think if your DD is in Year 8, is finding the lessons boring, subjects being taught by non-specialists, and you're not happy with the direction the school is going, I'd be looking around pretty sharpish no matter how financially well-endowed the school is. It sounds like you'd get a better experience at your local comp and use the fees you're no longer paying to top up any extras. The alternative is to try and get her into a more academic/selective school near you, but with the expectation that the environment will be more pressured. However - some kinds thrive on pressure, and if she's currently bored out of her skull she might be up for a challenge.

Hmmm, school is part of a group and all I can see online is the financial returns for the trust as a whole.

I think you may be right @Xiaoxiong - time to start looking around. DD is open to this - about 15% of her year group have left this year and seem to be flourishing in a range of different schools. Open days, here we come.

How did the school handle covid?

This year's cohort lost a lot of education during lockdowns & there is a clear divide between those who were able to engage with online learning either through what their school provided, their situation at home and whether a child coped well with online learning (a lot of ND children found it very difficult to engage for example).

Private schools generally provided more and higher quality online learning but that could be offset perhaps by other factors.

No experience of private schools but if marking overall is really at 2019 levels I would expect actual results to be lower. DS1 has just taken his GCSEs so was in year 8 in March 2020, and year 9 was very disrupted too, with political mayhem between a number of London local authorities and the government well before the start of the second lockdown and so many interpretations of what lockdown meant. I can't see how school students of any age aren't going to have had a very different experience from those of the same age in 2019 (though obviously those students then went through some very difficult times during A level and university)..

And this year's A level cohorts started GCSEs courses in 2019 so, cancellations and marking aside, wouldn't have started their A levels in the same place in autumn 2021 as those those who took the exams in 2018 or 2019.