Secondary School Performance Tables 2003

HOW TO READ THESE TABLES

KEY STAGE 3 (KS3) to GCSE/GNVQ VALUE ADDED MEASURE

What do we mean by value added?

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

In 2002 we introduced a way of measuring the progress that students have made between taking assessment tests when they are aged 13 or 14 (Key Stage 3) and GCSEs/GNVQs taken when they are aged 15. We call this the value added measure. Value added measures are intended to allow comparisons between schools with different student intakes.

For example, students attending school A may achieve above average results at GCSEs/GNVQs while students at school B may achieve below. In value added terms however, the students at school B may have made more progress than students relative to their KS3 starting point and therefore have a higher value added 'score' than school A.

Key Stage 3 to GCSE/GNVQ value added measure

The value added measure for each school is based on the progress made by individual students between KS3 and GCSE/GNVQ. Each student's value added score is calculated by comparing their GCSE/GNVQ performance with the median - or middle - performance of other students with the same or similar prior attainment at KS3. The individual scores are averaged to give a score for the school which is represented as a number based around 100. This indicates the value the school has added on average for their students.

Independent schools may opt out of the value added measure as they are not obliged to follow the National Curriculum and therefore KS3 data may not be available.

GCSE/GNVQ point score

A student's best eight GCSE/GNVQ results have been used to calculate the GCSE/GNVQ point score. A more detailed explanation of how to calculate a student's best eight results can be found in the Value Added Technical Information annex.

Coverage

The coverage column shows the percentage of 15 year old students that are included in the value added calculation. This gives some indication of schools where the value added measures 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 students, and so these students could not be included in the school value added calculation. As a greater range of prior attainment data becomes available, it will mean that more students will be included in the measure. Where coverage is less than 50%, the value added measure has not been published.

Average number of GCSEs/GNVQs taken by students in value added calculation

This column shows the average number of GCSEs/GNVQs taken by each student in the value added calculation. This gives an indication of the average number of GCSEs/GNVQs students take at the school.

Stability indicator

This column shows the percentage of students included in the value added calculation that were at the same school for both their Key Stage 3 tests and their GCSE/GNVQ examinations.

More details about how the above information has been calculated can be found in the Technical Annex.

Interpretation of a school's value added measure

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

For the KS3 to GCSE/GNVQ measure, a score of 101 means that on average each of the school's students achieved one extra GCSE/GNVQ point than the median for students with similar KS3 attainment. Conversely, a score of 99 means that the school's students achieved one fewer GCSE/GNVQ point.

The degree of significance that can be attached to any particular school's value added measure depends, among other factors, on the number of students included in the value added calculation. The smaller the number of students, 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.

As a guide, at KS3 to GCSE/GNVQ, schools with 50 or more students in the value added measure, scores of 97.5 to 101.9 are broadly average, while for schools with 100+ students, scores of 98.1 to 101.3 are broadly average. When comparing schools with cohorts of about 50 students, differences of up to 3.1 should not be regarded as statistically significant. For schools with about 100 students, differences of up to 2.2 should not be regarded as significant.

Particular care should be taken with the results for schools where cohort sizes are small. For example, for mainstream schools with 10 students included in either of the value added measures, only scores of below 94.2 or above 104.2 are likely to be significantly different from the average.

For special schools, at KS3 to GCSE/GNVQ, for special schools with 10 students in the value added measure, scores of 99.1 to 104.1 are broadly average while for schools with 20 students scores of 99.8 to 103.4 are broadly average.

When comparing special schools with cohorts of about 10 students, differences of up to 3.5 should not be regarded as statistically significant. For schools with about 20 students, differences of up to 2.5 should not be regarded as significant.

The table below shows the 2003 percentiles for Key Stage to GCSE value added. They are derived from national results for schools. The profiles are constructed in such a way that for 2003 nationally, the profile 105.5 and above relates to the top 5% of schools ranked by their Key Stage 3 to GCSE VA measure; the profile 101.2-105.4 relates to the next 20% of schools and so forth.

GCSE AND GNVQ RESULTS FOR STUDENTS AGED 15

The results

This part of the tables shows:

• the total number of students aged 15 at the beginning of the school year (i.e. in their final year of compulsory schooling). This includes students who did not attempt or pass any GCSEs or GNVQs;
• the number and percentage of students aged 15 with special educational needs with or without statements. Some of these students may not take any examinations at all or may take them when they are older. This will affect the school's overall results;
• the percentage of students aged 15 who gained five or more grades A*-C - the standard normally needed to prepare them for advanced study;
• the percentage of students aged 15 who gained five or more passes at grades A*-G;
• the percentage of students aged 15 who reached school leaving age with no GCSE or GNVQ passes; and
• an average point score based on students' best eight results. A more detailed explanation of how this is calculated can be found in the Technical Annex.

Average point score

The average point score has again been capped this year to reflect the output score used in the KS3 to GCSE/GNVQ value added measure and is based on a student's best eight results. It is important not to compare it to uncapped scores from years prior to 2002.

GCSE and GNVQ results for students in Year 11

Some schools have information on the GCSE and GNVQ results for all students in Year 11, regardless of their age. This is the year group in which students normally take their GCSEs. Most students in Year 11 are aged 15 at the start of the school year, but in some schools there are younger and older students in this year group. This additional information provides a fuller picture of GCSE and GNVQ results in the school.

The tables show:

• the number of students in Year 11 in the 2002/2003 school year, regardless of their age; and
• the percentage of those students who gained five or more grades A*-C.

OTHER VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS FOR 15 YEAR OLDS

The tables also provide the achievements of students in units of approved GNVQs, and full awards or units of approved NVQs, the City and Guilds Diploma of Vocational Education, RSA Initial Awards and IT Key Skills at levels 1 and 2. They show:

• the number of students aged 15 taking the courses; and
• the percentage of students achieving all the qualifications or units for which they studied in 2002/2003.

GCSE/GNVQ IMPROVEMENT MEASURE

The tables also show how the GCSE and GNVQ achievements of students in each school have changed since 2000. The bar charts show the percentage of 15 year olds who achieved:

• five or more grades A*-C; and
• no grade A*-G passes

in each of the years 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003.

ABSENCE RECORD FOR PUPILS OF COMPULSORY SCHOOL AGE

The tables show the levels of authorised and unauthorised absence for day students of compulsory school age (5 to 16).

Authorised absence is absence with permission from a teacher or other authorised representative of the school. This includes absences for which a satisfactory explanation has been provided (e.g. illness)

Unauthorised absence is absence without permission from a teacher or other authorised representative of the school. This includes all unexplained or unjustified absences.

The information relates to pupil absences in the 2002/2003 school year up to and including Friday 23 May 2003. Boarding students are not included. The first column shows the number of day students in this age range. The second and third columns show the percentage of half days missed as a result of:

• authorised absence; and
• unauthorised absence.

If we have not received complete information from a school, 'No information received' is shown in the relevant columns. 'Not applicable' applies to boarding schools with no day students. In the case of schools that are part boarding, the published statistics relate only to the school's day students and may not represent the levels of absence in the school as a whole.

There may be inconsistencies for some schools in the figures for the number of pupils on roll on 16 January 2003 and the students of compulsory school age for calculating pupil absences. This is because they have been worked out in different ways and serve different purposes.