Methodology Library
There are separate documents giving guidance on Valued Added and Expected Progress measures in the same section of the Raiseonline Library.
Table of Contents
Basic Characteristics
Absence and Exclusions
1. Absence
2. Exclusions
Prior Attainment......
Key Stage 1 and 2: Attainment Measures
Average Point Scores at Key Stage 1
Average Point Scores at Key Stage 2
Percentage of pupils attaining or surpassing each level at Key Stage 1 and 2
Key Stage 4: Attainment Measures
Average Points Score at Key Stage 4...... 21
Equivalences...... 25
Early Entry Mathematics...... 27
Thresholds (5 GCSEsor equivalent)...... 30
Summary of full GCSEs and vocational GCSEs results...... 32
Relative Performance Indicators for full GCSEs and vocational GCSEs...... 37
Appendix A: A list of all full GCSEs and their corresponding Subject family...... 42
Appendix B: A list of all vocational GCSEs and their corresponding subject family...... 48
Appendix C: Qualifications that count towards the English Baccalaureate and Basics at Key Stage 4...... 50
Appendix D: Student’s T lookup table...... 51
Appendix E: Levels and Point Scores...... 52
Key Stage 1...... 52
Key Stage 2...... 53
Key Stage 4...... 54
Appendix F: An introduction to Statistical Testing, Confidence Intervals and Standard Deviation...... 55
Basic CharacteristicsDefinition / Basic information about the school, giving some context to other analyses in the report.
Two versions of the report are available, ‘Basic Characteristics of your school’ that shows three years’ data for the school, and ‘Basic Characteristics by National Curriculum year group’ that shows the current year’s data by year group
For 2011, there are new SEN breakdowns in the ‘Basic Characteristics of your school’ report, which replace the previous indicators. These distinguish between responses at a school level and those where advice external to the school is sought. The new indicators are:
- Percentage of pupils supported at school action
- Percentage of pupils with School Action Plus or a statement of SEN
Eligibility / Free school meals: single or main registered students of statutory school age, or younger than statutory, but full time at the school
School deprivation indicator: single or main registered students with a known Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) value assigned to their home postcode
Stability – see below
SEN/School Action Plus/Statement of SEN: all single or main registered students on roll
Children Looked After is a count of the number of students who have been looked after continuously for 6 months (>=183 days) during the year and are aged 5-15 (BasicNCYearGroup).
All others: all single or main registered students on roll.
Formula / Method / Number on roll (NOR) is a count of the number of students on roll with an enrolment status of ‘C’ (Current) or ‘M’ (Main school in a dual registration).
All other measures, with the exception of the School deprivation indicator and Children Looked After (CLA) count (see below), are calculated using the formula
using the following table
/
% girls/boys / The number of girls/boys in the school / Number on roll
% pupils eligible for FSM / The number of students of statutory school age, plus those younger who are full time at the school, who are eligible for free school meals / Number of students of statutory school age, plus those younger who are full time at the school
% pupils from minority ethnic groups / The number of students who are not White British / Number of students of statutory school age or older
% pupils first language not English / The number of students whose first language is not English or not believed to be English / Number of students of statutory school age or older
% pupils with a statement of SEN, school action or school action plus / The number of students with a statement, school action or school action plus / Number on roll
% pupils with SEN / The number of students with SEN / Number on roll
% Stability / The percentage of pupils who have been attending the same school since the standard time of admission for the school / Number of students of statutory school age
Stability
The stability indicator is a measure of the percentage of students who were admitted to the school at a time later than the standard time of admission.
Only pupils on roll in national curriculum years 1 to 11 at the date of the January School Census (excluding guest or subsidiary registrations) are included in the calculations. If a pupil has left before the date census date, he or she is not included in the calculation.
The indicator is calculated using the following steps:
- Each pupil’s entry year is determined from their January Census entry date. This is dependent on their month of entry. A pupil admitted on or after July 16th 2013 will be assigned to the 2014 school year, whilst a pupil admitted before July 16th 2013 will be added to the 2013 school year.
- For each National Curriculum Year Group (NCYG) within the school, the academic year and month by which time at least 5% of students had joined the school (defined asMinJY & MinJM)is determined.
- The NCY of entry for each pupil is worked out.
- A pupil is then counted as Stable if he/she meets one of the following conditions:
- Joined school in Year 1 Month 1 or earlier
- Joined the school in or before MinJM (the month that at least 5% of the NCY cohort had joined by as above)
- Joined the school in a month/year that at least 40% of the NCY cohort joined in and
- Primary school - A month/year that at least 10 pupils joined in
- Secondary school - A month/year that at least 20 pupils joined in
- Joined in a year/month or NCY/month combination that meets all of the following criteria:
- Has at least 10% of the NCY cohort admission
- Has at least 10 entries for a primary school or 20 entries for a secondary school
- Is a year/month or NCY/month combination that has seen criteria a & b met more than once across the whole school
This percentage is then rounded to 1 d.p.
School deprivation indicatorA school level IDACI score is calculated for each school based on the IDACI score for each pupil’s postcode. IDACI scores are sourced from the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2010 which scores areas, known as super output areas. Super output areas are blocks of post codes, smaller than ward level. The scale is from 0 to 100, and the lower the figure, the less deprived the locality.
It is calculated using the following formula:
Where:
/ The IDACI score of the th student
/ The number of students with an IDACI score
Statistical significance / N/A
Return Format / Number on roll: Number
School deprivation indicator: Number
Looked After Children count: Number
All others: Percentage / Decimal Places / Number on roll: None
School deprivation: Two
Looked After Children count: None
All others: One
Inclusion within RAISEonline / Interactive Report / Full Report
PriSec2.1 / Yes
BasicNCYearGroup / Yes
Data Source / January school census. / Frequency of publication / Once per year
Notes / The national comparators for these reports are separated by phase into Primary (or middle deemed primary) and Secondary (or middle deemed secondary). Special schools are compared with the ‘Secondary’ national comparator.
In the second report, BasicNCYearGroup, the data are broken down by year group, so that the analyses are performed separately for each National Curriculum Year. National comparators are not shown for this report.
The information is provided for context only and does not affect any other calculations such as progress measures.
Worked Examples / Number on Roll
School Z has 245 students registered solely at the school and 8 students dually registered, where the school is the main registered base. The number on roll is therefore:
Percent girls
There are 131 girls registered solely at the school and 2 girls dually registered, where the school is the main registered base.
The percent girls is therefore:
(1 decimal place)
Free school meals
School Z has a nursery class with 20 morning only pupils, 18 afternoon only pupils and 12 full time. All these students are solely registered at the school. The school does not have any post-compulsory students.
Of the 12 preschool full time students, 2 are eligible for free school meals. Of students in statutory school age (there are such students) who are solely or mainly registered at the school, 32 are eligible for free school meals. The percent free school meals is therefore:
(1 decimal place)
Stability
A school has cohorts of pupils in NCYGs R, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.
NCYear / Cohort
R / 45
1 / 34
2 / 31
3 / 53
4 / 46
5 / 38
6 / 32
The pupils in Reception (NCYG ‘R’) are not included in the calculations as mentioned above.
Of the 53 pupils in NCY 3, there are 7 distinct entry month/year combinations:
EntryYear / EntryMonth / EntryNCYear / Admissions
2010 / 1 / 0 / 19
2011 / 3 / 1 / 1
2012 / 1 / 2 / 4
2012 / 9 / 2 / 1
2013 / 1 / 3 / 24
2013 / 4 / 3 / 1
2013 / 5 / 3 / 3
From this a few observations can be made:
- The EntryNCYear is derived from the EntryYear as stated previously
- The MinJY for this NCY is 2010 as 19 of 53 pupils had joined by then (19/53 = 36% which easily meets the 5% condition)
- The MinJM within 2010 is 1 (representing late July, August or September)
- There is a significant influx of pupils at the beginning of the academic year in NCY 3
EntryYear / EntryMonth / EntryNCYear / Admissions / % Admissions / Criteria met
2010 / 1 / 0 / 19 / 36 / 1, 2
2011 / 3 / 1 / 1 / 2
2012 / 1 / 2 / 4 / 8
2012 / 9 / 2 / 1 / 2
2013 / 1 / 3 / 24 / 45 / 3
2013 / 4 / 3 / 1 / 2
2013 / 5 / 3 / 3 / 6
The 19 pupils in the top line - highlighted in yellow – are counted as stable because they have joined in the MinJY and MinJM for the NCY.
The 24 pupil in the fifth line – highlighted in green – are counted as stable because over 40% of the cohort (and at least 10 pupils) have joined in that month and year.
Of the 32 pupils in NCY 6, there are 8 distinct entry month/year combinations:
EntryYear / EntryMonth / EntryNCYear / Admissions / % Admissions / Criteria met
2009 / 1 / 2 / 24 / 75 / 2,3
2009 / 3 / 2 / 1 / 3
2010 / 1 / 3 / 2 / 6
2010 / 7 / 3 / 1 / 3
2011 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 3
2012 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 3
2012 / 2 / 5 / 1 / 3
2013 / 1 / 6 / 1 / 3
In this case the vast majority of pupils have joined in early academic 2009. This does not represent joining in year 1 for these pupils, so criterion 1 is not met. However this is the MinJY/MinJM for this NCY, so these pupils are counted as stable, without even needing to take % admissions into account.
Of the 46 pupils in NCY 4, there are 9 distinct entry month/year combinations:
EntryYear / EntryMonth / EntryNCYear / Admissions / % Admissions / Criteria met
2009 / 1 / 0 / 25 / 54 / 1, 2
2010 / 1 / 1 / 1 / 2 / 1
2010 / 6 / 1 / 1 / 2
2011 / 6 / 2 / 1 / 2
2012 / 1 / 3 / 13 / 28 / 4
2012 / 5 / 3 / 1 / 2
2012 / 8 / 3 / 1 / 2
2012 / 11 / 3 / 1 / 2
2013 / 1 / 4 / 1 / 2
The 26 pupils in the top two lines are counted as stable as they have joined in or before year 1 month 1 in the school.
Also, the 13 pupils in the fifth line – highlighted in blue – are counted as stable because they meet criteria 4:
- There are at least 10 admissions in this NCY/month
- There is at least 10% of the total cohort admissions at this time
- This NCY/month entry time has happened elsewhere in the school (see NCY 3 admissions table above) where 24 pupils in that year group also joined in NCY 3, EntryMonth 1
Criterion 4 can also be met by having a ‘standard’ one-off intake in a particular calendar year/month, but this is not shown here.
Small schools will be unlikely to have pupils flagged as stable from criteria 3 & 4, but can still have pupils flagged as stable from criteria 1 & 2, where the bulk of stable pupils come from.
For example, a school with 9 pupils would never have pupils flagged as stable by meeting:
- Joined the school in a month/year that at least 40% of the NCY cohort joined in and
- Primary school - A month/year that at least 10 pupils joined in
- Secondary school - A month/year that at least 20 pupils joined in
- Joined school in Year 1 Month 1 or earlier
Further Guidance / Glossary of Terms for the Stability measure
Cohort – The number of pupils in a particular NCYear at a school
EntryNCYear – The NC year that a pupil joined the school (e.g. 0 or 1 means in Year 1 or earlier)
MinJY – The academic year by which time at least 5% of students had joined the school
MinJM – The academic month within MinJY by which time at least 5% of students had joined the school
MinNCY – A school’s lowest NCYear, discounting any year group that has fewer than 10% of the average number in a year for the school
NCYG/NCYear – National Curriculum Year Group
NCY N1 – First year of nursery (not included in Stability calculations)
NCY N2 – Second year of nursery (not included in Stability calculations)
NCY R – Reception year (not included in Stability calculations)
Stability – The term defining whether a pupil has been attending the same school since the standard time of admission for the school
URN – Unique Reference Number (identifier) of a school
Last Modified / 28/01/2014
Changes since last version / Changes to Stability measure
Absence and Exclusions
1. Absence
Definition / The Overall Absence is the percentage of possible half-day “sessions” missed by students, for any reason. The Persistent Absentee measure is the percentage of students who have exceeded a threshold of possible sessions. From 2012, a 15% threshold for persistent absenteeism has been presented.
As in previous years, different national averages are calculated for each of the following types of maintained mainstream school:
Primary
Middle deemed Primary
Middle deemed Secondary
Secondary
Special schools – see Notes below
Eligibility / All students registered at the school are included.
Formula / Method / The percentage absence is calculated as
Where:
Measure / /
Overall Absence / Sum of students’ number of sessions missed / Sum of students’ total possible sessions
Persistent Absence / Number of students who have missed at least 15% of their possible sessions / Total number of students
Statistical significance / N/A
Return Format / Percentage / Decimal Places / From 2012, one decimal place
Inclusion within RAISEonline / Interactive Report / Summary Report
Abs_2 / Yes
Trend_1
3 years’ data / Yes
Trend_1
Graph of similar schools by FSM eligibility / No
Data Source / For non-SEN schools data is collected 1 term in arrears through the School Census. Two terms of data will be available relating to the Autumn and Spring Terms in the previous academic year.
Absence data for SEN schools is collected annually, 2.5 terms data will be available for the previous academic year. / Frequency of publication / Once per year
Notes / In the reports for Maintained Mainstream Schools, the results are compared with schools with a similar level of free school meals eligibility.
The absence reports for Specials Schools were introduced in 2009; these compared the school’s figures to the national average for maintained mainstream secondary schools and maintained and non-maintained special schools. From 2012, special schools are compared to secondary schools for pupil group breakdowns, and to both special and secondary schools for trend data.
A possible session is a single morning or afternoon when the student could have been at school. There are two possible sessions in a day.
For the two term absence information used in Raise online, the pupil would have to miss 38 or more sessions to be classed as a PA at 15%. This information is published in the DfE’s Statistical First Release at the following link:
Pupils aged 5-15 as at 31 August 2013 will have absence recorded on the January 2014 School Census.
Key Stage 1 schools: Reception children will thus only be included if they are of statutory school age as at 31 August prior to the Term's census. Absence data is recorded in accordance of a pupil's age not by the Year Group they are in. If a pupil is aged 4 as at 31 August 2012 regardless of when they turn 5 the absence data will not be recorded in the School Census until January 2014.
The absence reports display figures only in the tables. Flags such as the snow flag, which may be seen in the DfE’s School and College Performance Tables are not shown in RAISEonline.
From 2013 the above SFR includes a separate four year olds table. The DfE collects absence information for nursery children in primary schools if they are aged 4 and above at the start of the school year, but not absence data from nursery schools.
Worked Example / School Z has 277 pupils, from School records you are able to see the total number of possible sessions is 84,576. Total number of authorised absences for the year was 5,722. 11 pupils were persistently absent with more than 15% of possible sessions missed.
Overall Absence :
(1 decimal place)
Persistent Absence (15% threshold) :
(1 decimal place)