Key stage 2 results were released back in July (over a week late!) and now, at the start of a new academic year, with a new IDSR on the horizon, teachers may be thinking about how performance measures are calculated and which pupils are included (are which are not). As today (7th September) is the first day of the performance measures data checking window – which closes at 5pm on 18th September – it’s worth recapping some of the details because it’s not all that straightforward.
The Golden Rules of Attainment Measures
The first rule of attainment measures is: pretty much everyone is included (initially!)
The second rule of attainment measures is: it’s not easy to get pupils removed
There are two main releases of school results. The first is the unvalidated (i.e. provisional) release in July; the second is the validated release – usually in December – when the performance tables are published. Between these two points is a narrow window of opportunity (7th to 18th September this year) to apply to have pupils discounted from results. This window is commonly known as the checking exercise. The checking portal can be found here, the guidance is here, and there are more useful links here including video tutorials. The guidance details who can and cannot be removed from performance measures. More on this later.
Pupils working below the standard of the test
This is perhaps the area that causes most confusion and where the most data entry errors occur. Pupils that are working below the standard of the test should be identified with a B on the test register and should have a corresponding pre-key stage standard or engagement model teacher assessment code (PKS1-6 or EM). These pupils will be counted as having not achieved the expected standard and cannot be discounted via the checking exercise.
Note: pupils with U (unable to access) and J (just arrived) codes will also be counted in percentages. If the pupil with a J code is a recent arrival from abroad, then it may be possible to get them discounted via the checking exercise.
Pupils that have not reached the end of Key Stage 2
Pupils that are of the correct age to take the tests but have not completed Key Stage 2 – due to a delayed start in reception or because they have been held back a year – should be identified with an F code and will not be included in attainment measures this year. The F code indicates that the ‘Pupil will reach the end of the programme of study and complete the key stage in a future year’. Their assessments will therefore count towards the following year’s set of results. Confusion arises when ‘not completed Key Stage 2’ is conflated with ‘working below the standards of the test’ and teachers might then think that pupils that are working within the pre-key stage standards can be discounted from results. Unfortunately this is not the case.
Absence from tests
This can get quite complicated. In the vast majority of cases, pupils that are absent during test week will be counted as having not achieved expected standards but there are exceptions. In reading, where there is just one test, if the pupil misses the test then that’s it – they get an A code and will be counted in the ‘not achieved’ pile. But in other subjects it’s possible to miss one test and still get enough marks on the remaining papers to achieve the expected standard. In such cases, the pupil is not awarded a scaled score but will receive an AS (Achieved Standard) code and will be counted as having achieved the expected standard. If their raw score on the remaining papers is not enough to push them above the pass threshold, then they get an A code and will be counted as having not achieved the standard.
Note that to achieve enough marks to reach the higher standard threshold, all papers must be taken. This means that a pupil that has missed a maths paper for example, could be counted as having achieved the expected standard but will be counted as having not achieved the higher standard.
There is a good explanation of how absence affects results here.
Missing results
Usually, where test scripts have gone missing (denoted by an M code) the pupil will be removed from both the numerator and the denominator and ignored in calculations, but – as with absence from tests – there are exceptions. In reading, where there is just one paper, an M code will result in the pupil’s removal from the performance measure not just for that subject but from the combined reading, writing, and maths percentage, too. However, in other subjects, if the pupil achieves enough marks in non-missing scripts to reach the pass threshold, they will be counted as having achieved the expected standard. Where things differ from absence is: if the score from the non-missing papers is not enough to clear the pass threshold, then the pupil will be discounted from results. In the case of absence, they would be counted as having not achieved the expected standard.
There is a good explanation of how missing scripts affect results here.
As a rule of thumb:
- Absence: assume the pupil will be counted as not achieving expected standards in that subject (and combined) unless they get enough marks on remaining scripts.
- Missing: assume they will be discounted (removed) from that subject (and combined measure) unless they get enough marks on non-missing scripts.
Special Consideration
This is a bit of a minefield. A successful application for special consideration will result in up to 3 extra scale points being added to the pupil’s results but the devil is in the detail. The extra 3 points are only used to determine the school’s results. This means that a pupil who achieved a scaled score of 98 will be counted as having achieved the expected standard (AS) in school percentages but the pupil, parents and secondary school will receive the original, unadjusted score. In a sort of Schrödinger’s result scenario, the pupil has therefore achieved and not achieved the expected standard.
Special consideration is denoted by a ‘+’ shown alongside the score in the results page on the NCA Portal. The results is not given as 101 (i.e. 98+3). Guidance on how to apply special consideration outcomes in Insight can be found here.
Percentage measures vs average scaled scores
Only pupils with an actual scaled score are included in the average scaled score measure. This means that all other results are removed. Codes such as F, A, and M – discussed above – have no numerical value and therefore cannot be included in the average scaled score measure. Interestingly, pre-key stage assessments and the engagement model are assigned a nominal scaled score value but this is for the purposes of progress measures and are not used in the average scaled score measure. All such pupils are omitted from the denominator of the calculation, which means it is common for schools to see a higher number of pupils included in their threshold (i.e. percentage) measures compared to their average scaled score measure.
The Checking Exercise
Through the performance measures data checking exercise, schools can apply to have pupils discounted from their results. The guidance lists those cases that will be rejected and those that will be considered. Perhaps the most common case for consideration involves those ‘admitted from abroad with English not first language’ but there are other circumstances that warrant an application for removal.
Currently, these pupils will be counted in attainment measures in provisional data – and will be included in the first version of the IDSR – but will be removed from the finalised data in the performance tables and in later version of the IDSR.
And what about progress?
This blog post has focused on attainment measures but 2026 sees the return of progress and that comes with a different set of rules, which will be covered in the next post.
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