The Department for Education has confirmed the coasting definition for primary and secondary schools in 2017.

Coasting schools are those where over three years, pupils are thought to not be progressing as much as they should.

The definition is based on three years’ of data and the expected attainment level and average progress needed to be made by schools in 2017 is the same as in 2016.

For primary schools, the measures are

*In 2015, fewer than 85% of pupils achieved level 4 in English reading, English writing and mathematics and below the national median percentage of pupils achieved expected progress in all of English reading, English writing and mathematics, and

 * In 2016, fewer than 85% of pupils achieved the expected standard at the end of primary schools and average progress made by pupils was less than -2.5 in English reading, -2.5 in mathematics or -3.5 in English writing, and

* In 2017, fewer than 85% of pupils achieved the expected standard at the end of primary schools and average progress made by pupils was less than -2.5 in English reading, -2.5 in mathematics or -3.5 in English writing.

Schools must meet the criteria for three consecutive years to be deemed coasting. A coasting school is contacted by the Regional Schools Commissioner to consider its wider context, and decide whether additional support is needed.

The government also revealed the criteria for secondary schools to be classified as coasting in 2017.

They will meet the criteria if:

* their Progress 8 score was below -0.257 in 2017 and,

* their Progress 8 score was below -0.256 in 2016 and,

* if fewer than 60 per cent of pupils achieved five A*-C grades in five GCSEs in 2015, including English maths, and less than the national median achieved the expected progress in both English and maths.

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