Performance Data
We use a wide range of external data to evaluate how effectively we are performing, moderate our own assessment judgements through Years 7 to 11 and plan for ongoing, sustained improvement.
The following data can be found on this page:
- Examination Results Summer 2023
- Progress Analysis 2022-23
- Progress Analysis 2021-22
- Department for Education Key Stage 4 Performance Data 2019
- Special Schools Performance Comparison 2019
- Student Destinations
When viewing these sources it should be borne in mind that they are primarily designed for mainstream schools and have limited value in a special school context, as recognised by Ofsted:
“Inspectors will recognise that published data for very small groups of children should be treated with caution. For example, it will not be possible to draw conclusions about trends in relation to very small groups. Equally, it will be misleading to compare national rates of progress and attainment with progress and attainment rates for very small groups that have high proportions of pupils with special educational needs arising from their low cognitive abilities.”
Ofsted School Inspection Handbook, August 2015. Paragraph 174.
A. Examination Results Summer 2023
Last year's Year 11 students did themselves proud in their examinations.
- 34% of students achieved at least one GCSE
- 28% of students achieved GCSEs in both English and maths
- 18% of students achieved four or more GCSEs
- 96% students achieved a qualification
- 64% students achieved a qualification (GCSE or Entry Level Certificate) in English
- 89% of students achieved at least one of their expected KS2-KS4 targets
- 24% exceeding their targets for English, maths and science
- All but two of our summer 2023 Y11 cohort moved on to education or training.
The success story was repeated across the full range of courses we offer.
Full details of our summer 2023 results can be viewed here:
Our Year 13 students also reaped the rewards of two years' hard work, improving on their KS4 results in core subjects and achieving a range of new vocational qualifications.
Their results can be viewed here:
B. Progress Analysis 2021-23
We will publish below details of the number of students who made expected progress in the core curriculum in each term of 2021-22.
Progress Analysis, Autumn Term 2023 |
Progress analysis, Autumn term 2021
Progress analysis, Spring term 2022
Progress analysis, Summer term 2022
C. Department for Education Key Stage 4 Performance Data 2019Progress analysis, Autumn term 2023
The Department for Education usually publishes school performance data in January of each school year, this focuses on the performance of the previous year's Year 11 students. The Government has announced that it will not publish any school educational performance data based on tests, assessments or exams for 2020. The most recent data is therefore for our Summer 2019 leavers.
This performance data for Castle Hill can be viewed and compared with that of other schools here: Compare school performance 2023
We are required to publish the following data for our 2023 Year 11 leavers:
- Attainment 8 score: 3.1
- Progress 8 score: -1.74
- Percentage of students who achieved grade 4 or above in English and maths: 2%
- Percentage of students achieving the English Baccalaureate subjects: 0%
Note close correlation between all pupils and disadvantaged.
Attainment 8 & Progress 8 explained
These are used to compare attainment and progress of all students and schools nationwide.
Attainment 8 measures the achievement of a student across 8 qualifications including mathematics (double weighted) and English (double weighted), 3 further qualifications that count in the English Baccalaureate measure and 3 further qualifications that can be GCSE qualifications or any other non-GCSE qualifications on the DfE approved list. The figure given above is the average for all Year 11 students in the 2019 cohort.
Progress 8 aims to capture the progress a student makes from the end of primary school to the end of secondary school in the same 8 qualifications as Attainment 8. It is a type of value added measure, which means that students’ results are compared to the actual achievements of other students with the same prior attainment. As with the Attainment 8 score the figure given above is the average for all Year 11 students in the 2019 cohort.
The floor standard for a school is the minimum standard for student achievement and/or progress that the government expects schools to meet. Schools will be below the floor standard if their Progress 8 score is below -0.5, however floor standards do not apply to special schools.
NB. The Department for Education has not published any data on the 16-18 section of the school's performance tables page.
D. Special Schools Performance Comparison 2023
As none of our students take 8 GCSEs our Attainment 8 and Progress 8 measures are below those of mainstream schools. Our cohort sizes are also small meaning that the performance of just one student can significantly alter any trends seen in data. The fact that floor standards do not apply to special schools is clear recognition of the very limited relevance of these measures to our provision.
The Attainment 8 and Progress 8 measures also only take into account GCSEs and a small number of BTEC qualifications and focus on the expected performance of students in mainstream schools. Whilst many of our students do achieve GCSE and BTEC qualifications we also offer a wide range of other qualifications, such as Entry Level Certificates and Functional Skills.
A more useful interpretation of the Performance Data can be found in our 'Performance Comparison 2023' document which compares our performance with that of similar special schools across the northwest and shows Castle Hill to be outperforming other schools.
This document can be viewed here:
E. Student Destinations
Destinations | 2019 cohort | 2020 cohort | 2021 cohort |
% of all students still in education, employment or training | * | * | 95 |
* This data is not published by the Department for Education (Covid).