The government announces
a new accountability system that will help ensure all children are literate and
numerate.
An ambitious new accountability
system will raise standards across the board because of its high expectations
and its focus on the progress made by every child from age 4 to 19, the
government has announced.
Schools Minister David Laws said
it was right that schools and colleges would be held accountable for ensuring
every child is able to read and write well, and has good maths skills. This
will mean all young people leave education with the skills needed to compete
for apprenticeships, places at leading universities and good jobs, helping to
build a stronger economy and a fairer society.
He added that the new system of
measuring performance was much fairer on schools and colleges, would expose
both underperforming and coasting schools, and would mean all pupils received
the attention they deserved to achieve to their full
potential.
Across primary and secondary
schools, and into post-16 education, the higher standards will be underpinned
by more rigorous tests and qualifications, a high quality of teaching for all
pupils, and a strong focus on the key subjects of English and
maths.
The new system will
help:
- primary schools ensure all
children start secondary school able to read well, write well, and have a solid
grounding in maths. There will be a new, more ambitious bar (set at 85% of a
school’s pupils) while a reception baseline will mean that progress is a
key element of the new system. This baseline will be a simple check of a
child’s level of understanding - for instance, counting and picture or
letter recognition - carried out by the child’s teacher in the first few
weeks of reception
- secondary schools ensure all
pupils study a broad curriculum and achieve a good set of qualifications at age
16, with an emphasis on English and maths, and subjects most valued by
employers and universities. The focus on progress, with the C grade threshold
scrapped, will mean all pupils will get the attention they
deserve
- colleges and school sixth forms
- following the recommendations made by Professor Alison Wolf in her
ground-breaking review of vocational education - will be expected to ensure
young people study stretching academic and vocational qualifications which
equip them well for employment or further study. Where students have not
achieved a C inGCSE English or maths at 16, they will continue studying
English or maths as part of their 16 to 19 studies
All schools and colleges will
also have to publish the essential information about their performance - giving
parents an at-a-glance overview of the progress a school’s pupils make,
and the grades they achieve.
Primary schools will show
pupils’ progress from age 4 to 11 (compared to others with similar
starting points in reception); what proportion reach the demanding new standard
at age 11; how well pupils do on average at age 11; and what proportion of
their pupils are rated ‘high achieving’.
Secondary schools will show
pupils’ progress from age 11 to 16 (compared to others with the same
results at age 11); what their pupils’ average grade is across 8
subjects; what proportion of their pupils achieve at least a C in English and
maths; and what proportion of their pupils achieve
the EBacc.
Colleges and school sixth forms
will show students’ progress from GCSE to age 18 (compared to
others with the same GCSE results) in academic subjects or Tech
Levels (the new gold-standard technical qualifications that finally place
vocational education on a par with A levels); what students’ average
grade is in each category; the progress made by students who joined them
without a C in English and/or maths; what proportion of their students drop
out; and what proportion of their students go on to further study, a job or
training at the end of their courses (when the data is robust
enough).
The highly
respected OECD is clear that the best education systems in the world
are characterised by autonomy for schools and by strong accountability systems
which highlight the performance of all providers and which give clear
information to parents and young people.
Schools Minister David Laws
said:
The new system will mean higher
standards, no hiding place for under-performing schools and coasting schools,
and real credit being given to schools and colleges which may have challenging
intakes but which improve their pupils’ performance.
In primary schools, we are
raising the bar to improve standards and introducing a proper measure of
progress from when children start school to age 11. I want to see all children
leaving primary school with a good standard of reading, writing and maths so
that they can thrive at secondary school. A better start at secondary school is
a better start in life.
We are also asking much more of
secondary schools - they will need to ensure they teach a broad range of
subjects, with a special focus on English and maths. But they will also be
fairly judged on the progress their pupils make, and the removal of the blunt C
grade threshold means all children will get the attention they
deserve.
Colleges and school sixth forms
will, for the first time, have to meet a range of demanding measures and show
that they are getting their students into good jobs, further study or
apprenticeships.
We must set high aspirations for
all schools and their pupils - and I am confident that our brilliant heads and
teachers will continue to meet the challenge we are setting
them.
Russell Hobby, general secretary
of the NAHT, said:
We are pleased that the
government has engaged with the profession on this critical reform. We welcome
the emphasis on progress as the defining measure of school performance and the
recognition that there is more to primary education than preparing for
secondary education; and, indeed, more to preparing for secondary school than
tests in English and maths.
We welcome the retention of
teaching assessment in writing and that test results for spelling, punctuation
and grammar tests will be used to inform teaching rather than to hold schools
to account. I believe the profession should take seriously the proposal to
baseline performance in reception. The first 3 years of education are arguably
the most important and they are currently ignored in the accountability
framework, punishing those schools who serve the most challenging
communities.
Brian Lightman, general
secretary of ASCL, said:
ASCL welcomes the
Department for Education’s intention to develop new accountability
measures that are fair and comparable across different types of providers of
post-16 education and training.
New measures that are consistent
and similar across different types of provider will give students and parents a
much better basis for making an informed choice, and can help us move towards a
level playing field for inspection and holding institutions to
account.
ASCL values the opportunity
to offer views about the development of accountability measures, for 2016 and
beyond.
Tim Sherriff, headteacher of
Westfield Community Primary School, in Wigan, which has been rated outstanding
in its last 2 Ofsted inspections and where more than 4 in 10 pupils are
eligible for free school meals, one of the highest proportions in the country,
said:
At Westfield we have extremely
high expectations for all pupils regardless of their starting point as
evidenced by the number of pupils we enter into the higher level assessments.
The new bar is challenging for those schools whose intake is significantly
below that of their peers nationally but the focus on progress means the value
that a school adds to its pupils’ achievement is taken into account. I
feel it is fair to assess the progress of pupils in comparison with others who
had a similar starting point.
Helen Tyler, headteacher of St
Joseph’s RC Primary School in Holborn, central London, which
earlier this month was rated by Ofsted as outstanding, said:
It is my belief that the bar
should be raised so that children are ready for and have a greater chance of
success at secondary school, and improved life chances. Schools should be
aiming for all children to make the necessary progress to attain highly. No
child should be left behind.
I also agree that schools should
publish their results on their website. Parents are entitled to know how well
their child’s school is doing and how it compares to other
schools.
Lubna Khan, headteacher of the
outstanding-rated Berrymede Junior School in Ealing, west London,
said:
An assessment at age 4 will give
really important information to schools about the starting points of children.
Schools will find this an extremely valuable element of the wider assessment
they will continue to make of their reception class pupils to enable each child
to develop.
It is very important that we, as
a junior school, have very close links and a good dialogue with our feeder
infants’ schools so we are fully aware of the children’s abilities
when they join us at age 7, and that assessment practices are consistent across
phases, not based on test results alone but supported by a wider range of
evidence.
Judging schools on the progress
their pupils make is fair. I also support higher expectations being set for
11-year-olds - it will help ensure that all children leave primary school ready
for high school, and all schools should want to achieve that. With
high-quality, excellent teaching, the support of parents and high ambitions,
there should be no ceiling.
Chris Paterson, associate
director of CentreForum, said:
Putting progress at the heart of
each stage of the accountability system is a major step forward. By capturing
the distance schools and colleges enable their pupils to travel, progress
measures allow for fair and meaningful comparisons. Importantly, they also
drive attention towards the performance of every pupil, which will particularly
benefit disadvantaged pupils and promote social mobility.
At primary, a progress measure
poses a challenge in that it requires an initial assessment. If this can be
introduced in a positive and sensitive way however, it will allow the distinct
advantages of a progress measure to benefit pupils. Accountability reform may
not seem like the most exciting education reform of the coalition government,
but it has the potential to be the most significant.
Professor Alison Wolf, of
King’s College London, said:
I welcome the provision of a
wide range of easy-to-understand indicators. The information will make it
significantly easier for parents and students to identify the best post-16
provider for them.
Notes to
editors