1. Secondary school accountability
reforms in practice
Chris Paterson

2. Core objectives
•Improve outcomes for all pupils; and
•‘Close the gap’ between
disadvantaged pupils and the rest

3. 5 A*-C EM incentives
Chance of one extra grade +/- being critical

4. Disadvantaged pupils (FSM)

5. Headline measure: Progress 8
• Main headline measure / floor standard
from 2016.
• Isolates the ‘value added’ by a school.
• Benchmarks school against the average
performance of a school with the same
intake (based on level of prior
attainment).

6. Progress 8 vs 5 A*-C incentives
Equal reward for any grade advancement – ‘every child matters’

7. Government curriculum objective
• Pupils should take ‘high value’
qualifications as part of a ‘broad and
balanced’ curriculum, with a particular
emphasis on securing an ‘academic core’.

8. Attainment 8
Basket Slot Subject Detail Weighting
1 1 English Compulsory X 2
2 Maths
2 3 EBacc 1 EBacc subjects X 1
4 EBacc 2
5 EBacc 3
3 6 Other 1 Approved vocational, further EBacc
subjects, other GCSE subjects
X 1
7 Other 2
8 Other 3

9. Attainment 8 in practice
APS8 = Attainment 8
ND = percentile within national distribution (100 as highest)

10. Attainment 8 – breakdown
Difference in Attainment 8 scores driven exclusively
by patterns of qualifying entries.

11. Attainment 8 in practice
APS8 = Attainment 8
ND = percentile within national distribution (100 as highest)

12. Attainment 8 – breakdown
Difference in Attainment 8 scores driven around
80% by performance per entry