Key findings from provisional data released for the 2016 key stage two assessments, providing breakdowns by pupil characteristics and information on the number of schools below the new floor standard, and the number of schools meeting the proposed definition for coasting. Please note that because of the changes to the curriculum, figures for 2016 are not comparable to those for earlier years. 

Key findings

Free school meal eligibility

• FSM pupils have lower attainment in 2016 compared with all other pupils nationally: 35 per cent of FSM pupils achieve the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, compared with 57 per cent of all other pupils (a difference of 21 percentage points).

Disadvantaged pupils

• 39 per cent of disadvantaged pupils reached the expected standard in all of reading, writing and mathematics compared with 60 per cent of all other pupils - a difference of 21 percentage points. Disadvantaged pupils made less progress in each of reading, writing and mathematics than all other pupils
• The gap between disadvantaged pupils and others, measured using the disadvantage gap index, has decreased in each of the last five years, narrowing by 2.3 per cent in the latest year and 9.3 per cent since 2011 (The disadvantage gap index was designed to be more resilient to changes in grading systems, assessments and curricula, meaning that between-year comparisons are valid)

Pupils with SEN

• Of all reported characteristics, pupils with SEN have the largest attainment gap when compared with those without any identified SEN. 14 per cent of pupils with SEN reached the expected standard in all of reading, writing and mathematics compared with 62 per cent of pupils with no identified SEN, resulting in an attainment gap of 48 percentage points

Ethnicity

• Attainment at age 11 continues to vary between different ethnic groups. Chinese pupils are the highest achieving group in 2016. The percentage of Chinese reaching the expected standard in all of reading, writing and mathematics is 71 per cent (17 percentage points above the national average). Chinese pupils also make the most progress in all subjects compared with all pupils
• Pupils from a black background are the lowest performing major group; three percentage points below the national average. 51 per cent of pupils from a black background reached the expected standard in all of reading, writing and mathematics. However, they make more progress than all pupils with a similar prior attainment
• Gypsy/Roma pupils are the lowest performing group with 13 per cent reaching the expected standard in all of reading, writing and mathematics

English as a first language

• 50 per cent of pupils whose first language is other than English reached the expected standard in all of reading, writing and mathematics, lower than the national average and compared with 54 per cent of pupils whose first language is English
• Pupils whose first language is other than English make more progress in all subjects compared with pupils with similar prior attainment nationally

Month of birth

• In 2016, older pupils performed better than summer-born pupils in all subject areas at the end of key stage two. The attainment gap in reading, writing and mathematics between pupils born in September and those born in August is 14 percentage points
• In 2016, the youngest pupils made more progress in reading, writing and mathematics compared with all pupils nationally with similar prior attainment. Older pupils made less progress in all subjects compared with all other pupils with similar prior attainment

Floor standard

• 665 schools are below the new primary school floor standard. This represents five per cent of the state-funded mainstream schools included in the floor calculations. In 2015, 676 (five per cent) of schools were below the previous floor standard

Coasting standard

• The revised results for 2016 shows that the number of schools meeting the proposed definition for coasting at key stage two is 477. Once the final regulations have been published, the DfE will publish a table showing the number and percentage of schools that meet the key stage two coasting definition by each local authority area. They will also confirm how the group of schools falling under the coasting definition interacts with the group of schools below the floor
• No school will be formally confirmed as coasting until the regulations come into force.
   

Read the full report online here.

First published 26 January 2018