FAQs on accountability 2021/22

As a result of the pandemic, most exams and assessments did not take place in the academic years 2019/20 and 2020/21.

The government therefore announced that it would not publish school or college level results data in school and college performance tables or autumn 2021 (like autumn 2020).

2021/21 results data will not be used to hold schools and colleges to account in autumn 2021 and not be used in school and college level performance measures in future years.

The updated guidance on 19 July 2021 states the following:

As [primary] assessments will be returning for the first time since 2019, without any adaptations, the results will not be published in key stage 2 (KS2) performance tables in academic year 2021/22.

We will, however, still produce the normal suite of KS2 accountability measures at school level and share these securely with primary schools, academy trusts, local authorities and Ofsted for school improvement purposes and to help identify schools most in need of support. This will be a transitional arrangement for the first year in which primary assessments return. We intend to publish primary assessment data in performance tables again in academic year 2022/23. Until this point, KS2 performance data for academic year 2018/19 will continue to be publicly available on Compare school and college performance.

Yes. KS2 results from 2021/22 will be used to calculate Progress 8 baselines.

The updated guidance on 19 July 2021 states the following:

Results from qualifications achieved in 2021/22 will be published on school and college performance tables, using our normal suite of accountability measures, as far as that is possible. Qualifications at key stage 4 (KS4) and post-16 are designed to provide evidence of students’ achievements that open doors to their future careers. After 2 years without publication of performance data, it is important that this information is publicly available to parents and students to support them when choosing schools and post-16 institutions, given the importance of qualification outcomes to student progression.

Yes. Primary schools will be able to access their own performance data via the schools checking exercise and Analyse School Performance (ASP).

KS4 performance measures will be available to schools in ASP and 16-18 school and college data will be shared via the checking exercise website.

Institution-level qualification achievement rates for post-16 providers will be published for Education and Training, Traineeships and Apprenticeships. These will be published through Explore education statistics.

The DfE have stated that this will be recognised and that caveats will be placed on any 2021/22 published data/performance tables to exercise caution.

The updated guidance on 19 July 2021 states the following:

We will need to adjust the way that we calculate some performance measures at both KS4 and 16-18 stages for 2021/22 to take account of the fact that results of qualifications achieved in 2019/20 and 2020/21 will not be included. These changes to methodology will be designed to minimise the impact of gaps in data for schools and colleges. At 16-18 in particular, we will not be able to use KS4 baseline data from 2019/20 or 2020/21, which will affect the 16-18 value added measure and the English and maths progress measure in 2021/22 and future years. We will need to confirm whether these measures can be produced. Details of these adjustments will be available in technical guidance in due course.

The guidance states that inspection judgements will not be based on any single piece of data alone. COVID-19 contextual information will be taken into account and discussed with school leaders. Ofsted will use data with caution in forming a rounded overall judgement.

ASCL comment on school performance tables decision.