Progress 8 | Schools Week

School changes pupils’ GCSEs mid-course and blames Progress 8 compliance

Work experience cut and pupils’ GCSEs changed mid-course to be league table ‘compliant’ A Cambridgeshire school has cancelled a week’s work experience and is making year 10 pupils take on additional GCSEs half-way through their courses to make sure they are “Progress 8 compliant”, Schools Week can reveal. Ely College principal Evelyn Forde wrote to […]

1,200 schools would be coasting, analysis reveals

Nearly 1,200 schools would be judged as coasting under new plans to intervene where pupil progress scores are lower than expected. Education Datalab has crunched the numbers – following Nicky Morgan revealing the scores that will define a coasting school. The research group estimate that 1,179 schools would be classed as coasting if using the previous […]

Coasting Schools Definition: The Nerdy Details

The official definition for a ‘coasting school’ has been revealed today. This matters because schools defined as coasting are eligible for intervention from the government under the proposed Education Bill. First things of note: The status will not be based on Ofsted categories. It will be based on exam scores over three years. Schools […]

Coasting school definition revealed by Nicky Morgan

Education secretary Nicky Morgan has today unveiled the criteria for what makes a “coasting school” as part of the Government’s drive to intervene in schools where pupils are not achieving their potential. The new measure will first be used in the summer of 2016 to define schools eligible for intervention if they cannot show a […]

Grade 5 will be the new, harder, GCSE pass rate

A 5 will be the new ‘pass’ grade when GCSEs switch to numbered grading, education secretary Nicky Morgan is today set to announce. This level will be harder for pupils to achieve than the current ‘C’ pass mark and is instead comparable to a high C grade or low B grade. Ms Morgan has repeatedly […]

Uptake of three-day ICT ‘GCSE’ soars 2,000 per cent

The number of pupils entering a fast-tracked ICT qualification – worth a GCSE and taught in just three days – has rocketed more than 2,000 per cent in a year. Schools Week revealed last month that education leaders were being urged to enter “vulnerable” pupils into the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) qualification to ensure […]

Next government should split Ofsted in two and prioritise accountability of primaries – education committee

The next government should reconsider splitting Ofsted in two and prioritise increased accountability in the primary school sector, the House of Commons education committee has urged. The committee has published its eighth report of this parliament, which looks back on its work over the last five years and reviews government progress in key areas. The […]

Progress 8: New measure undervalues low ability pupils

Schools adding value around the bottom of the ability range during the transition from legacy GCSEs to the new 1 to 9 grading system will get “significantly less recognition” within the new Progress 8 headline score, claims the leader of a successful academy trust. Progress 8 aims to capture the progress pupils make from the […]

Pupil premium: is the £2.5bn cash injection raising standards?

Schools Week is exploring the way vulnerable groups of learners have fared under the coalition. In the third of a five-part series, John Dickens looks at who exactly is benefiting as schools receive more than £6bn of pupil premium funding and questions if is really closing the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their wealthier […]