Whenever parents research secondary schools, one of the main things they look at is the Ofsted rating. Typically, parents are seeking an ‘outstanding’ school for their child, or failing that, a ‘good’ school. This line of thinking is more or less the same irrespective of whether parents are looking for grammar schools in Bexley or non-grammar schools in Bexley, Kent or surrounding areas.
Having worked in ‘outstanding’ and ‘good’ schools in my career, I’m not so sure the Ofsted rating is the most important metric to look at.
There is another metric, which looks at the value added score or the progress 8 score, which in my opinion, is more important.
So, what are they?
Imagine two students starting Year 7. One student achieves very high marks in their Key Stage 2 SATs (in Year 6), while another has lower results. Years later, if they both get top grades in their GCSEs in Year 11, it would mean the first student has met expectations, but the second student has made exceptional progress.
This is the heart of the value-added concept: it’s about the overall progress rather than the final grade. In this regard, there is a specific measure called ‘Progress 8’, and it is a very important indicator for secondary schools.
According to the Department for Education’s official performance table’s website, Progress 8 is designed to show the progress students make from the end of primary school (Key Stage 2) to the end of secondary school (Key Stage 4). It measures pupils’ progress across 8 qualifications rather than just their final exam results.
This is an important factor. Some children are told that only Maths, English and Science are important, which encourages pupils to focus mainly on those subjects to the detriment of other subjects. But top pupils score well across the board in all subjects, so if it’s the case that a school has good results in English and Maths but poor results elsewhere, there’s a high chance they focus on those two core subjects.
How Does It Work?
1. The Starting Point
When your child finishes Year 6, their SATs results in English (reading and writing) and Maths provide a baseline. The government uses this data to predict what your child is likely to achieve in their GCSEs eight subjects later, based on the national average.
2. The Finish Line
Later, the school measures your child’s actual GCSE results in those same eight key subjects (including English, Maths, three other English Baccalaureate subjects, and three further qualifications).
3. The Comparison
The school’s Progress 8 score is the average difference between the actual results achieved by all its students and the government’s predictions for those students based on their primary school results.
How Does the Scoring Work?
A score of 0 means the school’s students, on average, made the exact progress expected of them nationally. This is the national average.
A score above) (e.g. +0.5) is positive. It means students made more progress than similar students across the country. This is a sign of a school adding significant value.
A score below 0 (e.g. -0.5) is negative. It means students made less progress than the national average.
Why Should This Matter to You as a Parent?
When you are looking at secondary schools, a school’s Progress 8 score can give you a different and often fairer picture than just looking at raw GCSE results alone.
A Fairer Comparison: It allows you to compare schools that have very different student intakes. A school in a less affluent area might not have the headline-grabbing top GCSE grades, but if it has a high positive Progress 8 score, it shows it is doing an excellent job at helping its students excel from their individual starting points.
Focus on Every Child: The measure is based on the progress of all pupils, not just the high-achievers. This suggests the school is focused on supporting every student to reach their full potential, whether they left primary school as a high achiever or needing more support.
A Sign of Good Teaching: A consistently positive value-added score is a strong indicator of effective teaching and a supportive learning environment that nurtures progress for all abilities.
Fortunately, the majority of schools in and around Bexley are pretty good – both grammar and non-grammar.
This article was compiled using information and definitions from the official UK government website for school performance:
GOV.UK. “Find and compare schools in England.” Accessed via [https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/] (https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk). The definitions for Progress 8 and other performance measures are provided within the site’s guidance and glossary.
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