This is the proposed definition of a “coasting school” that has been set out by the Department for Education (DfE). The plans, which are subject to consultation, state that “no school will be identified as coasting until after the final 2016 performance data is published” (in early 2017 for key stage 4).
The new Progress 8 accountability arrangements are coming into force in 2016, meaning that the first coasting judgements will be based on data from 2014 and 2015 under the old system and 2016 under the new system.
The consultation document, Intervening in Failing, Underperforming and Coasting Schools, proposes an “interim definition” of coasting for the 2014 and 2015 data and then sets out the DfE’s “proposed bar” from 2016 for secondary schools.
It states: “A school will be coasting if in three consecutive years it falls below a new coasting level set against the Progress 8 measure. This level will be set in 2016 and will be above the absolute floor standard of –0.5.”
Progress 8 means that from 2016 each year 11 student’s progress will be compared with the performance of other year 11 students nationally with the same starting point.
For each pupil, actual progress will be compared with expected progress across eight subjects, including English and maths. A school’s Progress 8 score will be made up of all their year 11 pupils’ scores.
“The DfE will set a Progress 8 score and if schools do not reach this level we would be concerned that they were not fulfilling the potential of their pupils. Where a school falls below this bar for three years then they will be coasting. These schools will need to demonstrate that they have sufficient capacity to improve or face further action.”
Meanwhile, for 2014 and 2015, the interim bar is proposed as being when fewer than 60 per cent of pupils achieve five or more A* to C grades including English and maths at GCSE, and the percentage of pupils making expected progress in English and maths is below the national median (in 2014, the national median was 74 per cent in English and 67 per cent in maths).
For schools that opted in early to be judged against the new Progress 8 measure in 2015, the document proposes applying the more favourable of the two accountability measures for 2015. Schools identified as coasting after the 2016 data is published will be notified, the document explains, and will become eligible for intervention. However, they will not “automatically be subject to intervention”.
The consultation states: “Regional school commissioners (RSCs) will consider whether the school has a sufficient plan and the capacity to bring about the improvement needed. In some cases additional support may be necessary, for example from system leaders such as National Leaders of Education or other schools.”
However, further powers available to the RSCs include directing the school to collaborate with other schools or forcing an “academy solution”.
The proposals have been published alongside a draft guidance document for local authorities and RSCs entitled Schools Causing Concern. This document, which is also open for consultation, states: “Schools that have fallen within the coasting definition will have the opportunity to demonstrate their plans to improve. The RSC will consider a school’s capacity, and whether the school has a sufficient plan to bring about the necessary improvement, in order to decide whether intervention will be required.”
Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “We are reassured by comments to the effect that, ‘where a coasting school can demonstrate that it can improve sufficiently, it should be allowed to do so’. There is not a default presumption of academisation. Nonetheless, the judgement is at the discretion of the regional schools commissioner and we need more transparency and consistency about how these decisions will be made fairly.
“We will be pushing for open, fair and stable criteria for decision-making so that we can be clear what will free a school from the threat of intervention – enabling school leaders to focus on raising standards. We will look for proper consultation with the school and its community.”
The consultation documents are available via http://bit.ly/1HdusKi and the deadline for responses is December 18.