League tables ‘punish and reward wrong schools’, new analysis shows

Secondary school league tables, published today [24 January], 'punish and reward the wrong schools' by failing to take pupil background into account, according to new research from the University of Bristol. Once factors such as pupil ethnicity, deprivation and special educational needs are taken into account, a fifth of schools saw their national league table position change by over 500 places. Critically, 40 per cent of schools currently judged to be 'underperforming' would no longer fall into this category. These are the striking findings from a new study by Dr George Leckie and Professor Harvey Goldstein , from the University of Bristol's School of Education, who analysed the 2016 data from all 3,098 state-maintained secondary schools in England. They looked at 'Progress 8', the headline measure used by the Department of Education to assess progress made by pupils during their time at secondary school. It was introduced in 2016 and compares GCSE results to Key Stage 2 test results, which the Government argues takes prior attainment into account when judging progress. Critics have previously argued that the measure is too simplistic and punishes schools with a higher proportion of disadvantaged pupils.