Recommendations for benchmark selection

Recommendations for benchmark selection

This article was last updated on 21 August 2026, and relates to Results season 2026 and the the Academic Year 2026/27

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. 


ENGLAND AND JERSEY

There is no benchmark selector  in Connect or Summit for this Academic Year. 
We made the decision to remove the selector due to the fact that standards have return to a normalised level, and the Alps Customer benchmarks were generating a value-added picture in line with the latest DfE dataset, and therefore no longer required. For more information see  https://support.alps.education/portal/en/kb/articles/a-level-and-btec-level-3-england-jersey-analysis-of-customer-benchmarks

KS5: England, Jersey and International schools using reformed A levels 

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

We will replace the DfE 25 dataset with the DfE 2026 when available. 

Note that is you are looking at the 2022/23 Results, the DfE 2019 dataset was more exacting than results that year, so you analysis might appear bluer than it might have been. 

KS4 England

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








WALES 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 has only one benchmark set and therefore the dataset will be mirrored on both sides of the benchmark toggle. 

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. 
Note that in Wales, the KS5 Alps Customer benchmark consists of Welsh schools only. 
We will update this article and the grid once we have completed the 2026 Alps Customer Benchmark for Wales. 

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

We have recently created a new KS4 benchmark for Wales. This has been built from Results in 2025 from Welsh schools. We will update this benchmark in September 2026 using the 2026 outcomes. For more information click here. 




WALES Part 2: Recommendations on Benchmarks

There are various articles detailing the decisions made behind our benchmark selection and recommended dataset per cohort. We will publish the link here when available on release of the A level Welsh customer benchmark. 
At this stage you should use the 2019 benchmark, as this is likely to be the closet fit to the 2026 results.