Primary school accountability and progress measures - DfE guidance

Thursday 20th October 2016

The DfE has published two documents for guidance, which explain more about the primary accountability measures for 2016 including how a school’s progress scores are calculated. The documents are 

Reforms to primary accountability from 2016 include new headline attainment and progress performance measures and a new floor standard.

Floor standard
The floor standard is the minimum standard for pupil attainment and / or progress that the government expects schools to meet.
No school will be confirmed as being below the floor until December 2016 when schools’ performance tables are published.
In 2016, a school will be above the floor if:
• at least 65% of pupils meet the expected standard in English reading, English writing and mathematics; or
• the school achieves sufficient progress scores in all three subjects. At least -5 in English reading, -5 in mathematics and -7 in English writing.
To be above the floor, the school needs to meet either the attainment or all of the progress element.
The attainment element is a combined measure. This means an individual pupil needs to meet the ‘expected standard’ in English reading, English writing and mathematics, in order to be counted towards the attainment element.

Coasting schools definition
The Education & Adoption Act 2016 introduced new provisions to define schools that are ‘coasting’. In March 2016 the government published its response to the consultation on coasting schools. This confirmed that a ‘coasting’ school was one where data showed that over a three-year period, the school had failed to ensure that pupils reached their potential.

The document also set out the Department’s proposed definition of a coasting school. The definition is based on the same performance measures that underpin the floor standards. In 2016, a primary school will be coasting if:

•it meets the 2014 part of the definition of fewer than 85% of pupils achieving level 4 in English reading, English writing and mathematics and below the national median percentage of pupils making expected progress in all of English reading, English writing and mathematics; and

•It meets the 2015 parts of the definition - of fewer than 85% of pupils achieving level 4 in English reading, English writing and mathematics and below the national median percentage of pupils making expected progress in all of English reading, English writing and mathematics; and

•it also meets the 2016 part of the definition - if fewer than 85% of children achieve the expected standard at the end of primary and average progress made by pupils is below –

2.5 in English reading or - 2.5 in mathematics or -3.5 in English writing

A school will have to be below the coasting definition in three consecutive years to be defined as coasting.

No school will be identified as coasting until after the 2016 primary performance tables are published in December.

Schools will be excluded from the coasting measure if:

•they have fewer than 11 pupils at the end of key stage 2; or

•less than 50% of pupils have key stage 1 assessments that can be used to

establish prior attainment; or

•the school closes within the academic year (except if they reopen as a converter academy).

Any school that is excluded from the coasting measure in a particular year, for one of the reasons above, cannot be defined as coasting until it has three consecutive years of data that meets the coasting definition. Subject to Parliament agreeing to the Regulations, the coasting definition will apply to all mainstream maintained schools and academies with the relevant key stage 2 data. It will not apply to PRUs, special schools and academies, alternative provision academies or maintained nursery schools.

Pam Langmead