Hitting the Ground Running in September 2025 – England KS5

Hitting the Ground Running in September 2025 – England KS5

Setting priorities for Y13 as a Post-16 Leader in England

Now that the Autumn Term is underway for schools and colleges in England, here are some reflections from Alps on setting Post-16 priorities for Y13. 

1. Understand Your Context: Attainment

Table 1 shows how results in 2025 compare with results awarded from 2019 to 2025. 

Table 1 (adapted from JCQ data)

A-level grades in England have surprisingly risen slightly compared to 2024 at all grade thresholds. For example, A*-A was 27.6% in 2024 compared to 28.2% in 2025.  

Results in 2025 were higher than in 2019 at A*-D and higher. At A*-E results in 2025 were marginally lower than in 2019. 

Table 2 shows how the results awarded in England in 2025 compare with results awarded in Wales and Northern Ireland. 

Table 2 (adapted from JCQ data)

Results at A* were highest in Wales. At all other grade thresholds results were highest in Northern Ireland.  

In Wales & Northern Ireland UMS achieved in AS units contributes 40% to A Level grades. 

The gaps in regional performance in England were significant again in 2025, as Table 3 from the JCQ demonstrates. These variations mean students in many areas are far less likely to go on to university / higher education. 

Table 3
Gaps at A*-A between London and the South-East and the West Midlands and the North-East widened in 2025. 

Question to ask yourself: How does your school or college’s performance compare with these national and regional figures?

2. A Level – Understand your context: Value-added

Once again in 2025, Alps is offering two different benchmarks to evaluate your A Level value-added against:.  

  • The 2019 national benchmark based on 2019 DfE data 
  • The 2025 Alps benchmark – at A Level based on 2025 customer data 

During 2024-25 and on Results Day your value-added was calculated against the National 2019 benchmark. Alps chose this as the most appropriate benchmark because, as in 2023, results were being set by Ofqual close to 2019 standards.  

Alps is not using the 2024 DfE national data to benchmark 2025 A Level value-added progress because that data contains the GCSE prior attainment that was awarded very generously in 2022.  

Table 4 compares average GCSE scores for 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 based on Alps’ customer data. The average GCSE score for the 2024 A Level cohort was similar to the 2022 cohort who had GCSE grades awarded by CAGs in 2020.

Table 4

Results in 2025 were slightly higher than in 2019 as was average prior attainment.  

The 2019 DfE benchmark appears from our analysis to be slightly more exacting than the 2025 Alps customer benchmark.  

The 2025 A Level customer benchmark aligns with the grades awarded using customer data from 2022 to 2024, which were much fairer to use when evaluating progress in those years. We recommend you use this benchmark for A Level examination analysis in 2025. 

However, both the 2019 DfE benchmark and the 2025 Alps customer-based benchmarks are available in Connect to analyse against, to give you the full picture. 

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

3. Vocational – Understand your context: Attainment

VTQ / Applied General Summary

  • 239 705 VTQ results were issued in 2025. 
  • 216 640 results were for Applied Generals.  
  • 29 065 were for Tech Levels. 
  • The % of D*-D grades rose again in 2025 across all types of Applied General qualifications.  
  • In Diplomas and Extended Diplomas the D*-D higher pass rate was similar to 2020 when CAGs were used in place of the exams. 

    • T Levels Summary (see Table 5) 
    • 11 909 students completed their overall T Level in 2025. 
    • 10,888 (91.4%) of these 11,909 students achieved a Pass or above in their overall T level. For females this was 95.1% and for males 88.3%. 
    • High grade achievement was low again in 2025. Only 20 D* grades (0.2%) were awarded.  
    • Only 15.7% of grades were awarded at D*-D. 
    Table 5
    • Retention on T-level programmes remains a concern. Provisional data published by the DfE shows that 27% of those who started a T-level programme at the start of 2023/24 were not “retained and assessed” at the end of 2024/25. 
    • As in 2024, c.75% of entries in T-levels by female students were in Education & Early Years or Health. 
    4. Vocational – Understand your context: Value-Added
    Once again in 2025, Alps is offering two different benchmarks to evaluate your vocational value-added against:

  • The 2019 national benchmark based on 2019 DfE data 
  • The 2025 Alps benchmark – for vocational qualifications this is based on the 2024 DfE National data. 

    • Alps is using the 2024 DfE National data in the 2025 Alps Benchmark for vocational subjects,rather than our 2025 client data for several reasons:

    • Firstly, unlike at A Level where the PA of students taking A Levels soared in 2024 compared to 2019, the PA of students taking vocational qualifications was slightly lower in 2024 than in 2019, see Table 6
    Table 6
    • Because of this the 2024 National data is valid to benchmark progress in 2025 for vocational qualifications as the PA of the 2025 cohort was slightly lower than for the 2024 cohort. 
    • The 2024 National data has greater current vocational qualification coverage than our 2025 customer data or the 2019 National data. This was another factor in our decision making. 
    • As results at D*-D were slightly higher in 2025 than in 2024, and higher than results in 2019, value-added may fall slightly once the 2025 National data is available. 

    5. Set priorities based on your school or college’s performance in 2025. Key questions for this time of year:

    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 2025? 
    5. Which subjects predicted final grades most or least accurately in 2025? 
    6. Which subjects had inconsistent performance at teaching set level? 
    7. What are you doing right now to try to consolidate strengths and eradicate weaknesses in 2025-26? 

    6. Set priorities based on your new Y13’s end of Y12 data. Key questions and suggestions for this time of year:

    1. What strategic ‘data’ priorities had already emerged before the end of the Summer Term in Y12?  
    2. What priorities relating to attendance or attitude to learning or mental health etc were significant issues during Y12? 
    3. 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 all teachers can see their Y13 set’s baseline based on end of Y12 performance. 
    4. Which other priorities are now in place because of any disappointing surprises in terms of 2025 results? 

    7. Best Practice – Key considerations:

    1. The academic year often begins with in-depth evaluation of results in Raising Standards meetings with subject leads. Perhaps in September 2025, these meetings need a focus on current Y13, where they appear to be based on Y12 assessment, and how best to move forwards effectively. 
    2. As always, 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. 
    3. Create a realistic assessment timetable with subject leads to enable students to practice and master the skills required in examinations. 
    4. Use Alps Connect effectively throughout the year to help identify subjects, sets, student groups and students for support (& praise). 
    5. 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. 
    6. Do all you can to be relentlessly positive both with your students and their teachers. 
    7. 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. 

    8. Setting Targets based on Alps MEGs and tracking progress in 2025-26

    You will be able to select whether to set MEGs and track using the benchmark based on 2019 national data or the Alps 2025 benchmark. 
    The Alps 2025 benchmark is based on: 
    1. For A Level, 2025 customer data. 
    2. For vocational subjects the 2024 National data. 
    We will not be offering the 2024 national benchmark for A Level target setting or tracking as it contains prior attainment broadly similar to that awarded through CAGs in 2020. 
    You may select whichever benchmark you feel is most appropriate for you.  

    National 2019 (DfE) 

    1. As GCSE results were brought back close to 2019 standards in 2024 & 2025 and will be in 2026 & 2027, value-added based on 2019 national benchmarks will give a fair assessment of progress for both Y12 and Y13 towards results in 2026 & 2027.  
    2. Remember it is very likely your Y13 students will have already been set target grades based on MEGs using the 2019 national benchmark at the start of Y12 in September 2024. You will probably have tracked their progress during their Y12 using the 2019 national benchmark. 
    3. If you are an IB school or college, you need to use the 2019 National data. 

    Alps 2025 Benchmark 

    1. At A Level our 2025 benchmark is based on a 2025 customer data. It should also give you a fair assessment of progress for both Y12 and Y13 towards results in 2026 & 2027.  
    2. At A Level, the MEGs are almost identical across both benchmarks.  
        1. The target points that generate the MEGs for A Level are slightly lower for PA Bands 1-7 using the Alps 2025 benchmark. 
        2. The target points that generate the MEGs for A Level are slightly higher for PA Bands 8-11 using the Alps 2025 benchmark.
    3. For vocational the Alps 2025 benchmark, based on the 2024 National data, includes more benchmarked subjects for more qualifications than the 2019 DfE National benchmark.
    4. For vocational the National Minimum Expected Points and MEGs calculated from the 2019 National data are often more exacting than those calculated from the 2024 National data. 
    5. If you decide to use the 2025 Alps benchmark for target-setting and tracking vocational courses in 2025-26, consider applying the MEGs based on 2019 National data as Personal Targets for your students, because the 2019 MEGs are achievable, but higher and more aspirational. 

    Free Alps Champions Webinar - Hitting the Ground Running: England KS5

    This blog is a companion piece to our Alps webinar ‘Hitting the Ground Running: KS5 England' which goes out live at 3:30pm on Monday 22nd September 2025. This webinar will also demonstrate how to use Alps Connect most effectively when tracking progress.

     To register go to Hitting the Ground Running Webinar - England KS5
     
    In the meantime, if you require further technical or educational support, contact us at support@alps.education or education@alps.education