Our response to the government’s 16 – 19 performance measures consultation

Public consultation on proposals to improve 16 – 19 school and college performance measures.
Author
EEF
EEF

We’ve submitted a response to the Department for Education’s consultation on how to measure performance for 16 – 19 learners. 

Press release •1 minute •

The consultation is exploring how performance measures can best recognise learners’ progress and reflect the performance of learning providers. It includes a specific focus on learners re-sitting GCSE exams.

Our response

Based on the existing research evidence, our response argues that:

  • Proposals to broaden and improve the transparency of performance measures should be supported. More consistent and comparable performance measures can support the sector’s understanding of outcomes for disadvantaged learners across the range of available study pathways.
  • Removing penalties for later resit entries may allow settings to take a longer-term view. A longer view of how best to prepare and enter students would be consistent with the evidence that effective resit practice needs time to embed.
  • Larger accountability penalties on learners that do not improve are likely to fall hardest on providers serving more disadvantaged learners. Because disadvantaged learners are over-represented in the resit cohort and concentrated in FE colleges, a steeper penalty for grades below prior attainment may incentivise providers away from enrolling more disadvantaged learners.
  • Performance measures should recognise progress for learners with the lowest prior attainment, including within grade boundaries. For learners entering 16 – 19 study with the very lowest prior attainment, meaningful progress may be real but incremental. For the lowest prior attainers specifically, the Department for Education should consider weighting progress within the measures, alongside the proposed prior-attainment breakdowns.

The way the accountability system recognises the progress of disadvantaged learners is not only crucial to evaluating the effectiveness of 16 – 19 provision, but to ensuring these students receive the necessary support and opportunities to succeed. It is for this reason that we respond to this consultation, drawing on relevant evidence, including from EEF’s own research in 16 – 19.