At A*-D and A*-E results in 2023 were lower than in 2019. 

 

This fall was far steeper than elsewhere in the UK where results were set midway between 2019 and 2022 to transition back towards pre-pandemic standards. 

• Students in the 2023 cohort achieved GCSEs through TAGs not exams & most schools and colleges had higher average Prior Attainment than in 2019. This compares average PA based on Alps’ client data. 
  

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• The impact of this was a far higher percentage of students in the higher PA Alps bands than was the case in 2019.  
  

How did your school or college perform against these two benchmarks, and which one are you using to review performance and establish priorities? 

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. 

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. 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 your final Y12 assessment data but edited to only include students now in Y13 and only showing grades in subjects they are studying in Y13. Sets / teachers should also be adjusted so teachers can see their Y13 set’s baseline based on end of Y12 performance. 
   

5. Which other priorities are now in place because of any disappointing surprises in terms of 2023 results? 

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 on Y12 assessment, and how best to move forwards effectively. 
   

7. 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. 

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

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

10. 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. 

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

12. 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 we will continue to use the 2019 DfE national data set for you to track progress against as it seems certain that 2024 results in England will be set to this standard.  

2. You will have the option to use our 2023 client data set for tracking and monitoring instead, however. This will be based on the higher prior attainment nationally in 2023 and the 2023 results. 

3. Select whichever you feel is most appropriate for you. This might be based on whether your new Y13’s Prior Attainment is more like it was in 2019 or 2023. 

4. It might also depend on having a preference for keeping aspirations high and accepting the probability that VA mid-year and on Results Day may under-predict what your VA will be when Alps releases our 2024 client data benchmark. 

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

1. Post-16 Value-Added has not been measured or published in Performance Tables for the 2022 or 2023 Post-16 cohorts because their prior attainment was based on teacher assessment (CAGs and TAGs). 
   

2. For those 2 years the Performance Tables have only focused on raw attainment – the average A Level grade and the average Applied General grade. 

3. Value-added progress will return as a headline measure in the 2024 Performance Tables, so it becomes crucial for your school or college.