Primary school performance tables were published, showing the results of pupils in the Key Stage 2 national curriculum tests, KS1-KS2 value added, absence rates, and certain background information for primary schools (England, 2003).
Source: 2003 Primary School (Key Stage 2) Performance Tables, Department for Education and Skills (0870 000 2288)
Links: Tables
Date: 2003-Dec
The government published (for the first time) a value added measure for every school s progress for pupils aged 14 in the 2003 performance tables. It measured progress between the Key Stage 2 and 3 assessments (at age 11 and 14 respectively). Teachers said the tables still failed to reflect the achievements of schools in challenging circumstances. Headteachers called them 'flawed, misleading and unnecessary'.
Source: National Curriculum Assessments at Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3 Value Added Measures for Young People in England 2002/03(Revised), Statistical First Release 37/2003, Department for Education and Skills (0870 000 2288) | Press release 17 December 2003, National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers (0121 453 6150) | Press release 10 December 2003, Secondary Heads Association (0116 299 1122)
Links: SFR (pdf) | DfES press release | Tables | NASUWT press release | SHA press release
Date: 2003-Dec
A think-tank report said that school league tables were misleading to parents and damaging to learning. It urged the government to undertake an informed public consultation with students, parents and teachers to explore the alternatives for making schools accountable for their performance.
Source: Jodie Reed and Joe Hallgarten, Time to Say Goodbye? The future of school performance tables, Institute for Public Policy Research (020 7470 6100)
Links: Report (pdf) | IPPR press release
Date: 2003-Dec
An official report gave a comprehensive picture of how the education system in Scotland was performing. It included detailed national and local information, and also showed how Scotland compared with other countries.
Source: National Priorities in Education: Performance Report 2003 - National and Education Authority Information from 2001-2002, Scottish Executive, TSO (0870 606 5566)
Links: Report (pdf) | Report | SE press release | COSLA press release
Date: 2003-Dec
The schools inspectorate published 'scorecards' for local education authorities, combining judgments about school improvement, special educational needs, social inclusion, lifelong learning and strategic management. It said that the performance of local education authorities had improved between 2002 and 2003. Out of 150 LEAs, 42 were awarded three stars for current performance (compared to 32 in 2002) and a further 62 were awarded upper two stars (compared to 56 in 2002).
Source: Press release 18 December 2003, Office for Standards in Education (020 7421 6574)
Links: Tables | Ofsted press release | DfES press release
Date: 2003-Dec
The schools inspectorate said that the quality of teaching in the literacy hour and daily mathematics lesson continued to be 'good' in just over half of all lessons in primary schools in England. In a 'stubborn core' of around 1 in 3 lessons, the teaching was only 'satisfactory', and it was 'unsatisfactory' in approximately 1 in 8 lessons in both subjects. But the inspectorate also said that the national literacy and numeracy strategies continued to have a 'considerable positive impact'. Responding to the report, the government announced additional support to disadvantaged schools through the Excellence in Cities Primary Extension scheme: help would be given to all schools where, on average, more than 35 per cent of pupils had been eligible for free school meals over the previous three years.
Source: The National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies and the Primary Curriculum, HMI 1973, Office for Standards in Education (07002 637833) | Press release 9 December 2003, Office for Standards in Education (020 7421 6574)
Links: Report (pdf) | OFSTED press release | DfES press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Dec
The schools inspectorate said that the gap between the average points scores of the best primary schools nationally and deprived urban schools had closed by about 1 percentage point since 1996 (at key stage 2), leaving the gap at around 4.5 points in 2002. But at secondary school level the gap had widened since 1993 (at GCSE). (GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education)
Source: Access and Achievement in Urban Schools: Trends in attainment over time, Office for Standards in Education (07002 637833)
Links: Report (pdf) | Speech by Chief Inspector | Links to related reports
Date: 2003-Nov
Researchers assessed the effect of producing school value-added measures by adjusting GCSE and key stage 3 performance measures of schools for characteristics of their intakes, and comparing these with the unadjusted results; compared value-added performance measures which adjusted for prior attainment only with those which adjusted for prior attainment and other pupil factors; used value-added measures to compare the performance of different types of schools; and made other statistical comparisons (for example between boys and girls). More progress was made by girls, certain ethnic groups, pupils who stayed in the same school, and those with English as an additional language. Less progress was made by older pupils, those with special educational needs, and those known to be eligible for free school meals. (GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education)
Source: Tom Benton, Dougal Hutchison, Ian Schagen and Emma Scott, Study of the Performance of Maintained Secondary Schools in England: Report for the National Audit Office, Office for Standards in Education (07002 637833)
Links: Report (Word file)
Date: 2003-Nov
The National Audit Office said that, when measuring the performance of maintained schools in improving the academic achievements of their pupils ('value added'), the government should take account of newly available data on the academic achievements of the pupils in earlier stages of their education and on aspects of their economic, social and cultural backgrounds - not just data on uptake of free school meals.
Source: Making a Difference: Performance of maintained secondary schools in England, HC 1332 (Session 2002-03), National Audit Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | NAO press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Nov
A committee of MPs said that it recognised the 'considerable success' of the government in raising levels of literacy and numeracy in primary schools: but it said the efforts to build on this in secondary education lacked a clear focus. It said that setting targets centrally had contributed to the rising levels of achievement in both primary and secondary schools: but that it had 'served its purpose', and that schools should instead set their own targets, which would be reviewed by local education authorities and by the schools inspectorate.
Source: Secondary Education: Pupil Achievement, Seventh Report (Session 2002-03), HC 513, House of Commons Education and Skills Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Oct
The government reportedly decided to publish separate league tables of school performance in respect of the national curriculum tests at age 14. Teachers said the plans showed the government's continuing 'obsession' with testing and league tables.
Source: The Guardian, 29 October 2003 | Press release 29 October 2003, Association of Teachers and Lecturers (020 7930 6441)
Links: Guardian report | ATL press release | NUT press release
Date: 2003-Oct
The schools inspectorate said that local education authorities had been 'relatively successful' in securing the right number of school places for their young people, but had been less successful in using school place planning explicitly to promote high educational standards and social inclusion. It said that allowing popular schools to expand risked accelerating decline among struggling schools in the same area.
Source: School Place Planning: Influence of school place planning on school standards and social inclusion, HMI 587, Office for Standards in Education (07002 637833)
Links: Report (pdf) | Ofsted press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Oct
The schools inspectorate published its strategic plan for the period 2004-07. The three principal work strands were: to evaluate in greater depth the effects of major government policies for raising standards in education; disseminating its inspection findings in the most effective ways possible; and monitoring the impact of the new framework for school inspections introduced in September 2003. It would also undertake consultation in 2004 on inspection arrangements, leading to a review of inspection as one aspect of the government s overall strategy for standards and accountability in education.
Source: Strategic Plan 2004 to 2007, HMI 1834, Office for Standards in Education (07002 637833)
Links: Report (pdf) | Ofsted press release
Date: 2003-Oct
The government scrapped a bonus scheme for staff in schools with good exam results, after research found no hard evidence that it improved performance.
Source: Jane Stevens, Claire Simm and Helen Shaw, Evaluation of the School Achievement Award Scheme (SAAS), Research Report 427, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Brief (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Aug
The schools inspectorate said that new Children s Fund activities had made a good start at preventing poor school attainment for children at risk. It said that children showing early signs of difficulty were now being targeted for 'imaginative' new government initiatives aimed at preventing low school achievement, reducing crime and improving health. (The Children s Fund was established in 2001, in response to a report highlighting the need for improved services to prevent the negative effects of child poverty and reduce the risk of social exclusion. It primarily targets children aged 5-13 with particular needs.)
Source: Children's Fund: First Wave Partnerships, HMI 585, Office for Standards in Education (07002 637833)
Links: Report (pdf) | OFSTED press release | DfES press release
Date: 2003-Jul
A report said that the system of educational inspections in Northern Ireland was 'very beneficial'. The evaluation looked at inspections by the Education and Training Inspectorate in all sectors from pre-school to further education and training. The Chief Inspector published a report on inspections in the period 1999-2002.
Source: PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Evaluation of the Inspection Process 2002, Department of Education/Northern Ireland Executive (028 9127 9391) | Chief Inspector s Report 1999-2002, Education and Training Inspectorate, available from Department of Education/Northern Ireland Executive (028 9127 9391)
Links: PWC report (pdf) | NIE press release | Chief Inspector press release | Chief Inspectorate report (pdf) | Summary of Chief Inspectorate report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jun
The schools inspectorate found that the performance in maths and English of schools involved in the 'Excellence in Cities' and 'Education Action Zone' schemes had improved by a little more than the national rate, and that the initiatives had made a positive impact in a number of schools - but not comprehensively and consistently so.
Source: Excellence in Cities and Education Action Zones: Management and impact, HMI 1399, Office for Standards in Education (07002 637833)
Links: Report (pdf) | OFSTED press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jun
Tables were published providing information on the performance of secondary schools in England in 2002. The tables showed the KS3 results of pupils in English, mathematics and science; the GCSE/GNVQ achievements of pupils who reached school leaving age in the 2001-02 school year; two measures of 'value added'; and rates of pupil absence. 13 comprehensive schools were ranked in the top 100 state schools, compared to 9 the previous year. (KS = Key Stage; GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education; GNVQ = General National Vocational Qualification)
Source: 2002 School and College (Post-16) Performance Tables, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report | Independent article
Date: 2003-Apr
Research found that pupils of all levels of ability were likely to do better at a specialist comprehensive school rather than a non-specialist one.
Source: David Jesson, Educational Outcomes and Value Added by Specialist Schools: 2002 analysis, Specialist Schools Trust (020 7802 2300)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Apr
Research found a 'positive and statistically significant' association between capital investment in schools and pupil performance.
Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers, Building Better Performance: Empirical assessment of the learning and other impacts of schools capital investment, Research Report 407, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Brief (pdf) | Press release
Date: 2003-Mar
In the year to January 2002, pupil-teacher ratios in primary schools in England fell from 22.9 to 22.5; and in secondary schools from 17.1 to 16.9.
Source: Class Sizes and Pupil Teacher Ratios in Schools in England, Statistical Bulletin 01-03, Department for Education and Skills, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Bulletin (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
The schools inspectorate for England said that more pupils than ever are benefiting from improvements made in school standards over the last ten years: but it warned that the education system continues to fail too many young people, especially less academic students, and that this is a 'considerable obstacle' that could stand in the way of the government achieving its aim to create a world-class education system.
Source: Annual Report on Standards and Quality in Education 2001-2002, Office for Standards in Education, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Press release
Date: 2003-Feb
A report by the schools inspectorate for England identified the key factors that support improvement, and those that hold back schools progress. Twenty-four schools were selected as case studies of trends in standards of English and mathematics.
Source: Strategies in Action: Case studies of improving and declining schools, HMI 1009, Office for Standards in Education (07002 637833)
Links: Report (pdf) | Press release
Date: 2003-Feb
Research reportedly found that some schools are 'selecting by stealth' in order to boost their league table position. Church schools, former grant-maintained schools, and specialist schools are the most likely to select their pupils.
Source: Research by Anne West (Centre for Educational Research/London School of Economics), reported in The Independent, 4.2.03
Links: Article
Date: 2003-Feb
The chief schools inspector for England said that too much emphasis on meeting targets for children's test results can damage their learning. He said that the best primary schools had successfully integrated the literacy and numeracy strategies into the whole curriculum through a process of trial and error, not 'centrally directed prescription'.
Source: Speech by David Bell (Chief Inspector of Schools) 27.2.03, Office for Standards in Education (020 7421 6675)
Links: Text of speech | BBC news report
Date: 2003-Feb
Local authority leaders reacted angrily to reported government threats to use new reserve powers (under the 2002 Education Act) to impose minimum schools budgets on the London boroughs of Westminster and Croydon.
Source: Press release 13.2.03, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Links: Press release
Date: 2003-Feb
A survey of groups involved in education found that standards in primary schools were the most positively rated in 2002, followed by nursery education. Three quarters or more of respondents in each group rated primary schools as good or very good; two-thirds said the same about nursery education; but only half to two-thirds said it about secondary schools. (The tracking study is an annual survey conducted in England among teachers, head teachers and further education principals, school support staff and governors in the primary and secondary school sector, parents of children aged 5-19 in full-time state education, and local education authority officers.)
Source: Continental Research, Stakeholder Tracking Study: Waves 1-3, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
Tables were published showing KS3 and GCSE/GNVQ results, KS2-KS3 and KS3-GCSE/GNVQ value-added measures, together with absence rates, for secondary schools in England in 2001-02. Data for A-level and AS-level results were not published because of doubts over their reliability. The school standards minister said: 'This year s tables show clearly that secondary schools must build on pupils primary achievements and give priority to the early years of secondary education if they are to succeed at GCSE and beyond'. (KS = Key Stage; GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education; GNVQ = General National Vocational Qualification; A = Advanced; AS = Advanced Subsidiary)
Source: Secondary School Performance Tables 2002, Department for Education and Skills (0800 242322)
Links: Tables | DfES press release
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/3, Digest 123, paragraph 3.7
Date: 2003-Jan
A report said that Kent's proportion of failing schools is more than three times the national average, despite a lower than average number of pupils on free school meals, and that it has almost twice the proportion of poor secondary schools as authorities with similar levels of deprivation. (A third of schools in the county are selective grammar schools.)
Source: Report by chief inspector of schools, reported in The Guardian, 17.1.03
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jan
A new book explored how the educational community can improve the way it assesses children. It included examples of innovative work currently taking place, and considered what the future of assessment might look like.
Source: Whither Assessment?, Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (01787 884444)
Links: Press release
Date: 2003-Jan
The schools inspectorate announced new arrangements for inspections, to be launched in September 2003. It said they would mean fewer inspections for good schools, more emphasis on schools' self-evaluations, and a stronger focus on sharing best practice between schools and colleges.
Source: Inspecting Schools: The framework for inspecting schools in England from September 2003, HMI 1358, Office for Standards in Education (07002 637833)
Links: Report (Word file) | Press release
Date: 2003-Jan