HOW TO READ THE TABLES

KEY STAGE 2 (KS2) TO KEY STAGE 3 (KS3) VALUE ADDED MEASURE

What do we mean by value added?

Some pupils will always find it difficult to do well in assessment tests. It may be, for example, that they have significant special educational needs. All pupils, however, are capable of making progress and it is important that schools are given recognition for the work that they do with these pupils.

In 2002, we introduced a way of measuring the progress that pupils have made between taking assessment tests when they are aged 10 or 11 (KS2) and assessment tests when they are aged 13 or 14 (KS3). We call this the value added measure.

Value added measures are intended to allow comparisons between schools with different pupil intakes. For example, pupils attending school 'A' may achieve results in KS3 tests above the expected level while pupils at school 'B' may achieve below. In value added terms, however, the pupils at school 'B' may have made more progress than other pupils relative to their KS2 starting point and therefore have a higher value added score than school 'A'.

Value added measures the progress students have made from one stage of their education to another.

KS2 to KS3 value added measure and coverage

Each pupil's value added score is based on comparing their KS3 performance with the median - or middle - performance of other pupils with the same or similar results at KS2. The individual scores are averaged to give a score for the school that is represented as a number based on 100. This indicates the value the school has added on average for their pupils.

The value added measures in the current tables take account of prior attainment, which is the biggest single factor affecting pupil results. However, contextual factors which are outside the school's control, such as gender, mobility and levels of deprivation may have a further impact on pupil results, even after allowing for prior attainment. To take these into account requires a more complex model of value added. Such a model is being piloted for value added between Key Stages 2 and 4 in the 2005 Tables. Some initial trialling with schools has taken place in Autumn 2004: for more information see
http://www.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/performance/pat/cva_pilot/?version=1

The coverage column shows the percentage of pupils eligible for KS3 assessment that are included in the value added calculation and gives some indication of schools where the value added measure may be unrepresentative. A low coverage indicator means that information was not available to calculate the value added scores of many of the school's pupils, and so these pupils could not be included in the school value added calculation. Where coverage is less than 50%, the value added measure has not been published. More detailed information about how the value added measure and coverage indicator have been calculated can be found in the Value Added Technical Information Section.

Interpretation of a school's value added measure

The value added scores are shown as a measure based on 100. Scores above 100 represent schools where pupils on average made more progress than similar pupils nationally, while scores below 100 represent schools where pupils made less progress.

For KS2 to KS3 value added, a measure of 101 means that on average each of the school's pupils made one term's more progress between KS2 and KS3 than the median for pupils with similar KS2 attainment. Conversely, a score of 99 means that the school's pupils made a term's less progress.

Statistical significance

The degree of significance that can be attached to any particular school's value added measure depends, among other factors, on the number of pupils included in the value added calculation. The smaller the number of pupils, the less confidence can be placed on the value added measure as an indicator of whether the effectiveness of a school is significantly above or below average.

Mainstream Schools

As a guide, at KS2 to KS3, schools with 50 or more pupils in the value added measure, scores of 99.0 to 100.8 are broadly average while for schools with 100+ pupils, scores of 99.2 to 100.5 are broadly average.

When comparing schools with cohorts of about 50 pupils, differences of up to 1.3 should not be regarded as statistically significant, while for schools with about 100 pupils, differences up to 0.9 should not be regarded as significant.

Special Schools

Particular care should be taken with the results for special schools and other schools where cohort sizes are small. For example, for special schools with 10 pupils, only scores of below 98.9 or above 102.3 are likely to be significantly different from the average.

Value Added Profiles

The table below shows the profiles for this year for the Key Stage 2 (KS2) to Key Stage 3 (KS3) value added measure. They are derived from national results for schools. The profiles are constructed in such a way that for 2004 nationally, a profile of 103.1 and above relates to the top 5% of schools ranked by their KS2 to KS3 VA measure; a profile of 101.0 - 103.0 relates to the next 20% of schools and so forth, as shown in the table below:

KEY STAGE 3 TEST RESULTS

The results

This part of the Tables shows:

• the number of pupils who were at the end of KS3 and therefore eligible to be assessed in May 2004. All pupils - including those with special educational needs - are eligible for assessment under the National Curriculum when they reach the end of KS3. Most will be aged 14 by the end of the school year. Some, however, will be older or younger;
• the number and percentage of eligible pupils with special educational needs with and without statements; and
• the percentage of eligible pupils in each subject who achieved Level 5 or above in English, mathematics and science tests. Level 5 or 6 is the level of achievement expected of most pupils at the end of KS3.

Eligible pupils

The number of pupils eligible for KS3 assessment in the 2003/04 school year is shown for each school. All pupils - including those with special educational needs - are eligible for assessment under the National Curriculum when they reach the end of KS3. Most will be aged 14 by the end of the school year. Some, however, will be older or younger. This number includes all eligible pupils on the school roll at the time of the tests in May 2004 - regardless of whether or not they sat the test (for example because a pupil was absent or was working at the level of the test but unable to access them).

Eligible pupils with special educational needs (SEN)

The Tables also show how many of the pupils eligible for KS3 assessment had special educational needs. Some of these pupils may not have taken the tests - because they were working at a level below that assessed by the tests, or because they were working at the level of the test but unable to access them. This will affect the school's overall results.

Percentage of pupils absent or working at the level of the test but unable to access them

The National Curriculum assessments have been designed to make sure that as many pupils as possible can be assessed. Parents cannot withdraw their children from any part of the National Curriculum.

There may, however, be a very small number of pupils who are unable to take part in some or all of the assessment arrangements, even allowing for the full range of special arrangements. Usually this only happens if all or part of the National Curriculum is not suitable for a pupil because he or she has certain special educational needs. The assessments are designed to cater for most pupils with special educational needs.

Some pupils were absent from school at the time that some or all of the tests were taken in May 2004 (perhaps due to illness) and did not achieve a test level.

Each school's results at Level 5 or above, are based on the results of all pupils at the end of KS3, including those who were absent or working at the level of the test but unable to access them. A school's results may be affected by eligible pupils who were absent or working at the level of the test but unable to access them, because such pupils are included in the calculations even though they did not achieve a test level. To help you take this into account, the percentage of eligible pupils who were absent or working at the level of the test but unable to take or access them is shown alongside the percentage achieving Level 5 or above. The higher the percentage of pupils absent or working at the level of the test but unable to take or access them, the more a school's results may have been affected by pupils with no test results.

Adjustments to the number of eligible pupils

The results for some schools have been adjusted. Some schools requested that pupils recently admitted from overseas with little or no English be discounted from the figures. This has been agreed where the pupil was admitted to the school in the 2002/03 or 2003/04 school year from outside the United Kingdom, and their first language is not English. The Government accepts that these pupils will not do their best in examinations until they have improved their English language skills and are more familiar with the school curriculum in this country.

Average point score (APS)

The average point score provides a fuller picture of the KS3 achievements of pupils of all abilities. The published percentages indicate whether the pupils of a school mainly fall below Level 5 or achieve above this level, but the average point score allows easier discrimination between schools, particularly those with similar percentages. For example, a score of 35 tells you that on average, pupils who took KS3 tests at the school achieved mostly Level 5 or Level 6.

It is calculated by dividing the total number of points achieved by all pupils eligible for KS3 assessment in each subject by the number of eligible pupils in each subject. If you want more information about how the point score has been calculated, please refer to the Value Added Technical Information Section.