School performance tables released

English schools have been ranked on the basis of GCSE results for the last time, with academies performing well

Posted by Stephanie Broad | January 22, 2016 | Teaching

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• #school-performance
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The latest school league tables, the last in its current form, has been released.

The results show that girls are out-performing boys in GCSEs by around a fifth (61.8% of girls with five good GCSEs compared to 52.5% of boys). High-performing converter academies are outperforming the national average of 57.1% by 7.2 percent. 

The BBC has produced an interactive map of performance by region.

GCSE attainment has improved for deaf young people,with 41.1% achieving five GCSEs at A*-C, compared to 36.3% in 2014. However, the gap between deaf children and non-SEN pupils is wide, with almost two thirds (58.9%) of deaf children are failing to achieve five GCSEs at grade A* - C (inc. English and Maths), compared to just 35.8% of children with no identified special educational need. 

From next year, schools will be measured on a wider set of standards – known as Progress 8. The system replaces the ‘five or more A*-C’ benchmark with an assessment of progress between tests at the end of primary and secondary schools. Schools will be scored on how pupils have progressed compared to the national average. Around 10% of schools chose to ‘opt in’ for Progress 8 this year.

Russell Hobby, general secretary of NAHT, said: "Heads, staff and students have worked hard in every secondary school across the country to raise standards at a time of immense turmoil and disruption. We pay tribute to their dedication.
 
“Unfortunately there has been so much change that the national statistics generated by the government are increasingly dubious. Comparing one year with another, or one group of schools with another, is precarious at best when the very basis of measurement is different each time. The government must be careful what conclusions it draws.
 
“We desperately need stable measures of a stable examination system. We need this in order for data to become meaningful again. We need this, above all, so that schools and teachers can focus on teaching to the best of their ability rather than coping with constant change.

“The time of change is not over yet, as the government plans to revise the way the Ebacc is used in future performance tables. Yet these tables published today showcase the value of the new Progress 8 measure. The Progress 8 measure, only recently implemented, provides the required balance between academic rigour and curriculum breadth.”