ASCL comment on Progress 8 in wake of Covid pandemic

Commenting on the Department for Education's decision that there will be no replacement to Progress 8 in 2024/25 and 2025/26 school performance tables because of the cancellation of Key Stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, Tom Middlehurst, qualifications specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, said:

“This may be the ‘least-bad' approach within the confines of the current system as there isn't a viable alternative to Key Stage 2 tests as the starting point of measuring progress. But it is far from ideal and means we are stuck with schools being judged in performance tables on exam attainment regardless of context. Schools where progress is improving will feel particularly hard done by.

“It is a missed opportunity to rethink performance tables, and once again highlights why current accountability metrics should be reformed to cover a wider range of information which tells parents more about a school than just exam results.”