The Department for Education has launched a consultation on key stage 4 reforms aimed at ensuring that schools with lower prior attainment are judged more fairly.
It includes proposed changes around allocation of support from Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) teams - as part of efforts to better identify the schools that would benefit the most - and revised KS4 measures of progress to make lower-attaining pupils “more visible”.
The consultation document proposes an additional progress measure to Progress 8 (P8) that would focus on pupils who enter secondary school with attainment behind their peers.
One benefit of the new measure, the document states, would be that these pupil would likely have the opportunity to study for more qualifications.
Progress scores
It says: “Some pupils with low prior attainment, particularly those with [special educational needs and disabilities] or disadvantaged pupils, take fewer than eight qualifications.
“We are considering whether we could spotlight the performance of the low prior attainers (LPA) cohort via a bespoke ‘best fit’ progress measure.”
Students would “continue to be included within Progress 8, incentivising schools to be ambitious for their attainment across a broad curriculum”, but the new measure would “provide additional insight where Progress 8 alone may not fully reflect a pupil’s achievements”.
The DfE said the two would work in tandem to “make progress for pupils with the lowest starting points more visible and recognise their achievements, including for those who are unlikely to succeed in eight qualifications”.
New approach
To calculate progress under P8, students are currently grouped together by their attainment at the end of KS2. Under the proposed plans, students would still be grouped together this way, but an additional measure for pupils in LPA groups would also be calculated.
The DfE says it will “use the established method” for calculating progress, starting with a score for GCSE maths, at least one English GCSE and a student’s best other subject.
However, rather than assuming all eight slots are filled, progress scores for each additional subject slot will also be calculated and the best score applied to the school’s LPA progress measure.
The consultation document states: “Using pupils’ best progress scores will encourage schools to enter them for as many qualifications as they feel appropriate for each pupil, without a penalty for empty slots, but also without an artificial cap or limit on what a pupil can attempt.”
RISE changes
The government has also reiterated its intention to expand targeted RISE support to low-attaining schools.
RISE teams initially worked with schools defined by the DfE as being “stuck”, based on their previous two Ofsted inspections. The new consultation document stresses that the reach of RISE support is to be broadened.
It states: “Targeted RISE support will be mandatory for schools which need to rapidly improve levels of pupil achievement.”
The DfE says it proposes expanding eligibility for targeted support from January 2027, with the initial cohort selected on the basis of school performance data from summer 2026.
GCSE choices
The department stresses that it wants to encourage schools to offer a “rich and broad” KS4 curriculum, which ensures coverage of subjects most likely to support the needs of society and the economy, as well as young people’s life chances.
While it acknowledges that P8 - reform of which has been fuelled by the recent Francis review of curriculum and assessment - is “central” to this aim, the DfE says the current structure “has hampered progress in subjects that strengthen our economy”.
In January, Vlog analysis revealed that many teachers were concerned about how their school was being judged in the absence of P8, with many teachers in areas of poverty believing their school was judged less fairly.
The announcement on KS4 coincides with the release of the long-awaited schools White Paper and reform plans for the SEND system. It was announced that schools would have access to a new £1.6 billion Inclusive Mainstream Fund as part of a wider £4 billion SEND spending package.
The government also announced its intention to “halve the disadvantage gap” by the time the generation of children born under the current Labour government finishes secondary school.
The is open from today until Monday 4 May.
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