Recommendations for benchmark selection

Recommendations for benchmark selection

This article was last updated August 2025 and relates to Results Season 2025 onwards. 

This article links directly from the platform and is accessed from either the Current Benchmark lozenge in the top bar, or from the Analysis Setting page related to switching benchmarks. 

This article presents the datasets in the platforms and the recommendations for choosing your benchmark. 

Part 1: Benchmark datasets per cohort

  1. There are two benchmarks available within the platforms for Key Stage 5
    1. The National Selection - this dataset will usually contain the full national data
    2. The Alps Customer selection - the benchmarks provided by Alps following Results and generated from Alps customer data only. 
      1. In Wales, only Welsh schools are included in this customer benchmark 
  2. Key Stage 4 in both England and Wales has only one benchmark - the 'National' selection. There is no toggle for KS4. Any analysis on the 'Customer' benchmark toggle will be blank. 

England KS5

  1. The grid below shows which benchmark is being used for the 'National Benchmark Set' and the 'Alps Customer Benchmark' toggles in Connect and Summit across the last 5 years. 

The yellow highlighted boxes indicate the benchmark we would most recommend given the unique value-added situation of any cohort. 

England KS4

The grid below shows which benchmark is being used for the 'National Benchmark Set' and the 'Alps Customer Benchmark' toggles in Connect and Summit across the last 5 years. Note: In 2025 and 2026 we will not create Customer Benchmarks due to the lack of standardised prior attainment results because of COVID. Therefore, the default benchmark will be DfE ‘19 for the next 2 years and Toggle 2 is not required and will remain blank.




Wales KS5

  1. The grid below shows which benchmark is being used for the 'National Benchmark Set' and the 'Alps Customer Benchmark' toggles in Connect and Summit across the last 5 years. 

The yellow highlighted boxes indicate the benchmark we would most recommend given the unique value-added situation of any cohort. 

Wales KS4

The grid below shows which benchmark is being used for the 'National Benchmark Set' and the 'Alps Customer Benchmark' toggles in Connect and Summit across the last 5 years

In Wales we have not been able to produce KS4 benchmarks, and therefore there will be no data in Toggle 2 (“Alps Customer Dataset”) for KS4 this year, so the analysis on this toggle will be blank.  




Part 2: Recommendations on Benchmarks

There are various articles detailing the decisions made behind our benchmark selection and recommended dataset per cohort. 

England KS5

  1. students completing their Key Stage 5 courses have prior attainment baselines from the Key Stage 4 outcomes in 2023 where standards returned broadly to pre-pandemic levels.
  2. The overall outcome standards are likely to be in line with 2024 outcomes.
  3. Our instincts are that the value-added picture will be similar to that of the 2019 DfE National data, but different to that of recent years. 
  4. Our recommendation on Results Day is to use the 2019 DfE National Benchmarks to analyse outcomes for KS5 courses. 
  5. We will update our recommendations once we have analysed our customer benchmark. 

Wales KS5

    • students completing their Key Stage 5 courses have elevated prior attainment baselines from the Key Stage 4 outcomes in 2023.
    • The overall outcome standards are likely to be in line with 2024 outcomes.
    • The value-added picture will again be unique in 2025 based on the elevated baseline.
    • Our recommendation on Results Day is to use the National Benchmarks to analyse outcomes for KS5 courses. 
    • We will update our recommendations once we have analysed our customer benchmark.


Switching your benchmark

Account Benchmark selector

Selector allows admin user in a Connect/Summit account to impose a benchmark for all users.

Summary: 
Admin users have the permission to select a benchmark across the whole of the Connect or Summit account. 
This will affect all users.
This will be a permanent change, ie when a user logs out and then in again, they will see this benchmark. 

We highly recommend you read the articles signposted on the page as switching benchmarks has implications for all users and the resulting analysis. 

1. Navigate to the Account Benchmark Selector page from the Homepage - click from Analysis Settings on the left toolbar or into Current Benchmark lozenge in top panel. 
2. Use the dropdown to select the desired benchmark. 
3. Click SAVE and agree to the ARE YOU SURE dropdown. 

All users will now use this selected benchmark. There will be a lozenge in the top bar informing the user which benchmark they are using. 

Session benchmark toggle

  Selector allows admin user in a Connect account to give control of benchmark selection to individual users.
  User selects session benchmark.

Summary: 
Admin users have to give users permission to see and use this tool in Connect. Summit users have this by default. 
The benchmark switch lasts for the duration of the session and will reset to the account benchmark default on signing out and in again or refreshing the page. 
The tool switches the benchmark for individual users only. 

How do I find these tools? 

Summit
  1. Click on click from Analysis Settings on the left toolbar or into Current Benchmark lozenge in top panel. 
  2. All users will see the Account Benchmark Selector 
  3. All users will see the Session benchmark toggle 


Connect 

click from Analysis Settings on the left toolbar or into Current Benchmark lozenge in top panel. 
  1. Admin users will see the Account Benchmark Selector 
  2. Colleagues who have been given permission to toggle benchmark will see the Session benchmark toggle. 
  3. Giving permission to specific users can be enabled using the steps in section below. 




Enabling the Session benchmark toggle 


1. As an Admin user in Connect you will be able to give other user rights to toggle the benchmark. Note:  Summit you will have this option by default. 
      a. Click into Manage Users and select Active Users
      b. Note column in table headed 'Client benchmark switching'
      c. Click on edit user in final column. 



2. On user page, scroll to bottom and toggle the Client benchmark button and SAVE.
Note that users will have to log out and in again for this to take effect.

3. User will now have the ability to switch benchmark. They should click on the Analysis Settings in the Homepage menu or from the Current Benchmark lozenge in the top bar. 
      a. Click on the Session Benchmarks toggle  
      b. Read the information carefully. There are links on this page which we would urge any colleague looking to switch benchmarks to read as they contain essential information regarding the educational context.
      c. Scroll to bottom of page and select the desired benchmark from the dropdown and SAVE. 



4. The user will now be viewing Connect using the 2024 provider benchmark. There will be a lozenge in the top bar informing the user which benchmark they are using. 
5. This switch will be applied to the whole of Connect/Summit and will persist until users either 
      a. Switches benchmark toggle back to national OR
      b. Signs out of Connect/Summit, at which point the benchmark will default back to the benchmark set as the account setting in the platform. 





    • Related Articles

    • Analysis of DfE 2024 IB benchmark

      2024 IB Results in England This article presents an overview of the findings from the Alps review of the DfE national dataset from 2024. It concludes with an overview of the recommendations for benchmark selection for analysing your 2024 results for ...

    • Analysis and recommendations from 2024 DfE datasets - OVERVIEW ARTICLE

      Overview article for all analysis from 2024 DfE datasets We are in the process of generating benchmarks from the national dataset published by the DfE following the 2024 examinations at KS4 and KS5. Alps is only one of seven companies that are given ...

    • Alps KS4 and KS5 Customer Benchmarks in 2025 - analysis and recommendations - AUGUST 2025

      This article will serve as the index for all updates with regards to our Alps Customer Benchmarks across August and September 2025. In it, we will publish links to the articles providing analysis and recommendations for each qualification type as we ...

    • Using the switch benchmark tools in CONNECT and SUMMIT - AUGUST 2024

      Selecting and switching benchmarks in Connect and Summit This article will describe the ways in which you can select benchmarks on the platforms and view your analysis against either the national benchmark or the client benchmark. The benchmark ...

    • KS5 England - Which benchmark should I use? August 2023

      In this article we outline the composition of the two benchmark sets available in Connect and Summit for Key Stage 5 England from 28 August 2023 onwards. It is designed to be read by Trust Leaders, Senior Leaders in schools and colleges and Leaders ...