Key Stage 5 (A-Level and equivalent) covers secondary school pupils aged 16 to 18. As with all the other Key Stages, in 2016, new measures were introduced to enable the performance and progress of pupils to be compared; pupil progress features highly as it is considered to be a fairer measure for school comparison.

Pupil progress, which is considered to be a fairer measure for school comparison, is now a key indicator; so a school can now be judged not only by it's headline results, but also by how much it progresses its pupils.

The key measures available for 2016 onwards are:

Progress

These figures tell you how much progress students who studied academic qualifications at this school or college made between the end of Key Stage 4 and the end of their academic qualification studies, compared to similar students across England. The scores are calculated by comparing the academic qualifications results of students at this school or college with the academic qualifications results of students in schools and colleges across England who started with similar results at the end of the previous Key Stage, i.e. Key Stage 4.

  • A score above zero means students made more progress, on average, than students across England who got similar results at the end of Key Stage 4.

  • A score below zero means students made less progress, on average, than students across England who got similar results at the end of Key Stage 4.

  • A negative progress score does not mean students made no progress, or the school or college has failed, rather it means students in this school or college made less progress than other students across England with similar results at the end of Key Stage 4.

  • The majority of schools and colleges have progress scores between -2 and +2.

Average result

These figures tell you the average grade and average points that students achieved in their academic qualifications. A points value is given to all qualifications so you can compare qualifications of a different level, size and grading system. The number of points are based on the challenge and size of a qualification.

Grade and points for a student's best 3 A-levels

A best 3 A levels score is calculated for each student by adding together the points in their best 3 A levels, then summed across a school or college, then divided by three to give a best 3 A levels points per entry, and this is also expressed as a grade. This data applies only to actual A levels and not equivalent qualifications such as the International Baccalaureate.