Vital league table decisions ahead

After the end of the Christmas armistice we return to the trenches of education policy. One of the highlights of last year was the reform of secondary performance tables and measurements. Although it may seem far off, with the first published results years away, in fact choices made in the next two terms will have a profound effect on the performance of schools under the new measures.

The new measures themselves have been broadly welcomed, and they do mark a dramatic shift away from the cliff edge of the C/D boundary. For the first time in a long time, schools will be rewarded for the performance of every child, which can only be right. Secondary schools will be held accountable for progress based on an average point score in students’ best eight qualifications. This measure has become known as “Progress8”. It has implications for the distribution of teaching effort; as intended, there is no longer any specific ability range that it will makes sense to focus on – moving any student up a grade will count the same. Many schools will need to reconsider their tracking and intervention strategies.