In Wales the A Level results were brought back to close to halfway between 2019 & 2022 

The falls from 2022 were most significant at A*-C upwards. 

Grades were lower than in Northern Ireland where results were also set midway between 2019 and 2022. Results in Wales were significantly higher than in England, especially at A*-B+, as results in England were brought back close to 2019 levels. 

The fall at A*-A% was steepest in England - 26.5% of exams got the top grades compared to 34% in Wales and 37.5% in Northern Ireland.  

How does your school or college’s performance compare with these figures? 

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1. Students in the 2023 cohort achieved GCSEs through CDGs not exams and most schools and colleges have higher average Prior Attainment (PA) than in 2019. More students were in high PA bands than in a ‘normal’ year. 
2. The results in Wales were set higher than the results in 2019 were allowed to be – midway between 2019 and 2022.

1. What strategic priorities emerge from your raw results? 

2. What strategic priorities emerge from your value-added? 

3. Was the performance of any significant student group concerning? 

4. Which subjects performed best and least well in 2023? 

5. Which subjects predicted final grades most or least accurately in 2023? 

6. Which subjects had inconsistent performance at teaching set level? 

7. What are you doing right now, as a result of your analysis, to try to consolidate strengths and eradicate weaknesses in 2024? 
   

1. Your new Y13 cohort, who achieved average GCSE scores via higher-than-normal GCSE results in 2022, are very likely to have a higher average GCSE score than is typical for your school or college because their GCSE results were obtained in a transitional grading year.  

2. What strategic ‘data’ priorities had already emerged before the end of the Summer Term?  

3. What priorities relating to attendance or attitude to learning or mental health etc were a significant issue during Y12? 

4. What strategic priorities emerged from this cohort’s AS results? (see above) 

5. As some students may have either left school or college in the summer, or dropped or switched a subject for Y13 or gone back to Y12, at Alps we suggest uploading a Monitoring Point Zero (MPZ) at the start of Y13. Essentially this is AS results’ data but edited to only include students now in Y13 and only showing grades in subjects they are continuing to study in Y13. Sets / teachers should also be adjusted so teachers can see their Y13 set’s baseline based on AS performance. 
   

6. The academic year often begins with in-depth evaluation of results in Raising Standards meetings with subject leads. Perhaps in September 2023 these meetings need a focus on current Y13, where they appear to be based AS results, and how best to move forwards effectively. 

7. Which AS subjects retained comparatively low percentages of students into Y13 for A Level in September 2023? What issues does this reveal? 
    

8. As always, there is much that we do not yet know and will have little ability to control. So, we recommend that you prioritise those things you can control, such as the quality of teaching and learning, the quality of guidance and support, and the quality of your leadership at all levels. 

9. Create a realistic assessment timetable with subject leads to enable students to practice and master the skills required in examinations. 
   

10. Take decisions now about AS re-sits. Can students who are targeting improving AS marks be additionally accommodated in Y12 lessons? 

11. Use Alps Connect effectively throughout the year to help identify subjects, sets, student groups and students for support (& praise). 

12. We recommend a sharp focus on the subjects that are taken by larger cohorts of students as these subjects will have the most significant impact on this cohort’s outcomes and destinations and your value-added. 

13. Do all you can to be relentlessly positive both with your students and their teachers. 

14. Your top priority must involve putting the students’ needs and interests first, aiming for each to reach their potential and, perhaps crucially, to achieve positive post-18 pathways. 
    

1. During 2023-24 Alps will continue to offer the 2019 data set for you to track progress against as Qualifications Wales now intends for all results to return to pre-pandemic standards in 2024. 

2. You will also have the option to use the Alps 2023 Welsh Client data set for tracking and monitoring instead. However, that benchmark will be based on transitional 2023 results that are likely to be difficult to match in 2024. 

3. Select whichever benchmark you feel is most appropriate for you. 
   

4. Although results seem likely to be returned to 2019 standards in 2024, the new Y13 students in 2023-24 will typically have higher than normal transitional GCSE results that they were awarded in 2022.   

5. So, after Results’ Day in 2024 we will analyse client data as early as possible to make analysis based on the actual 2024 results available to our schools and colleges in Wales.