I don’t see the point in publishing school performance tables at the moment. Until all of the changes to GCSEs have shaken down through the system, the information that the performance tables give us is largely meaningless.

The tables are confusing for both schools and families alike and not comparable to any year before. In fact, based on all the changes in the education system, the first group to work their way through the fully changed system will be 2024 at the earliest.

Data - and that’s what this is - should only ever be a starting point when making a judgement about a school’s effectiveness or a student’s success. Grades don’t tell you much about what kind of person has delivered you a 1 or a 9 or an A or an F. Performance tables don’t tell you anything about what schools do to educate and empower young people.

Performance data is not a secure measure of whether a school is any good or not. As this year’s set of secondary school performance tables are due to be published, we must remember this.

Different measures

Parents who are picking secondary schools for their children would be better advised to make a judgement about a school by having a good look around, talking to the staff, other parents and considering the individual needs of their son or daughter.

Something else worth remembering about performance data is that what they show cannot be compared to previous years. Progress measures are not designed to be compared from year to year and the attainment data is not comparable because of GCSE reforms and changes to performance measures.

For instance, in English and maths, the previous attainment measure was the percentage of pupils achieving Grade C and above, broadly equivalent to the new Grade 4 and above in the reformed GCSE scoring system. However, the government arbitrarily decided to make the new headline measure the percentage of pupils achieving Grade 5 and above. So there is no comparison possible there.

Similarly, the English Baccalaureate achievement headline measure was previously the percentage of pupils achieving a Grade C or above in the EBacc subjects. Now, English and maths elements must be at Grade 5 or above, meaning this year’s figure cannot be compared to previous years. At present comparing year on year school performance data is like comparing apples with pears.

Recognising schools’ staff

Headteachers, staff and students have worked hard in every secondary school across the country to support their students to achieve their potential. We should pay tribute to their dedication. But we should also recognise that where their school appears on a league table is neither a goal, nor a reward for the work that they do.

Unfortunately, every year, schools’ achievements are overshadowed by comparisons between one year’s results and the next. In a period of such unprecedented changes to GCSEs, these kinds of comparisons are particularly unjust and unreliable.

There has been so much change that the school performance tables generated by the government are increasingly dubious. It would be wrong to try to draw any meaningful conclusions from the performance tables. Comparing one year with another, or one group of schools with another, is precarious at best when the very basis of measurement is different each time. There are no ‘health warnings’ being given about the numbers published and there should be.

There are further years of uncertainty to come as the rest of the reformed subjects are implemented and we then need a significant period of stability in the system. Until we’ve seen all of the reforms implemented, those who seek to hold schools to account should offer support rather than sanction.

Schools must be held to account for the work that they do. But this must happen fairly. Accepting that numbers only tell you about a very small part of a school’s work with its students would be a good start. 

Paul Whiteman is general secretary of the NAHT headteachers’ union. He tweets @PaulWhiteman6

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