Just two local secondary schools exceed new national standards

Hollingworth Academy

Just two secondary schools in Rochdale borough are exceeding the new national standards.

Hollingworth Academy and Holy Family RC and C of E College were the only two schools out of 20 secondary schools in the borough to achieve above average grades at ‘Progress Eight’.

In 2017, 53% of pupils at Hollingworth Academy and 52% of pupils at Holy Family achieved a grade five or above in English and maths GCSEs. By comparison, just 15% of pupils at Kinsgway achieved a grade five or higher, the lowest government funded school run by the local authority.

Four schools – St Cuthbert’s RC, Kingsway Park, Siddal Moor and Brownhill – are ranked as ‘below average’ or ‘well below average’.

The new national standards look at pupils’ performance throughout secondary education (‘Progress Eight’), and additionally measures their achievements across eight GCSE qualifications (‘Attainment Eight’).

The new, tougher, standards have replaced the measure of ranking secondary schools by proportion of pupils gaining A* - C grades in five GCSE subjects, including English and maths.

On the new grading system of one to nine (with nine as the top grade), schools are judged on a grade five. A grade four is the minimum pass level and is equivalent to an old C grade.

The Department for Education says the new progress and attainment standards take in greater account of a pupil’s progress and their basic ability.

By region, Salford was the worst performing borough in Greater Manchester, followed by Bolton and Rochdale. In contrast, Trafford and Stockport were the best performing boroughs.

Nationally approximately 12% of schools are performing well below an average level with 18% performing above average. Around 40% of schools in England are hitting the standards.

Progress Eight data is not published for independent schools and independent special schools, or breakdowns by disadvantaged and other pupils for independent schools, independent special schools and non-maintained special schools.

The tables use raw GCSE results from 2017 plus data from the Department for Education to evaluate how well pupils progress in school.

A spokesperson for Wardle Academy, who were graded as ‘average’ said: “At Wardle Academy we are constantly focused on raising standards and have been delighted with the year-on-year improvement in our English and Maths results as well as many of our other subjects. We are also particularly pleased with the way gaps in the attainment of different groups of students are closing at a faster rate than that found nationally."

Councillor Kieran Heakin, cabinet member for children’s services, said: “These results are not comparable with 2016 as this was the first time that pupils were entered for reformed GCSE exams and the new grading system.

"Nationally we see that there has been a decrease in attainment largely as a result of the new GCSEs. Our schools are working hard to understand the requirements and expectations of these new exams, which have increased demands on pupils. As the new system becomes more familiar we expect results to increase, as will many other authorities.

“All of our schools have plans in place to support pupils through these new measures and raise attainment. Where there are schools that are underperforming, we are working intensively with headteachers and governors to make sure that they have the right support in place to rapidly improve outcomes.”

Hollingworth Academy and Siddal Moor did not respond to an invitation to comment.