School inspection data summary report (IDSR) guide

Overview of the Ofsted IDSR

Inspectors use the inspection data summary report (IDSR) when preparing for, and during, school inspections. The IDSR summarises and analyses the available data about a school. It is also designed to align with our school inspection handbook, to inform inspectors’ conversations with school leaders. It is not intended to be an exhaustive profile of a school or to provide any judgement or assessment of the school.

The IDSR can contain sensitive information about schools and colleges. It is your responsibility to make sure you store and share the IDSR securely. Please see our IDSR conditions of use and storage statement.

During a school inspection, inspectors gather evidence on the quality of education from various sources. This includes nationally generated information on pupils’ progress and attainment. The IDSR can only provide a starting point, however. Inspectors will want to see first-hand evidence of the quality of education as experienced by pupils and to understand how well leaders know what it is like to be a pupil at the school.

The standards for phonics and key stage 2 data have been kept consistent since 2022. For key stage 4 and education for 16- to 18-year-olds, the approach to grading was different in 2022 compared with subsequent years. The IDSR does not make direct comparisons across years. Instead, it uses arrows to show whether the school’s value has changed compared with the national value each year. There are further details about how the arrows are calculated later in this document.

Access your school’s Ofsted IDSR

As a web page through our website

You can access the report directly through our new Ofsted IDSR service or through the Department for Education (DfE)’s Analyse School Performance (ASP) service. You will need a DfE Sign-in account and associated permissions for the school(s). Users with more than 1 school should use our direct link.

Ofsted cannot give or take away access to DfE Sign-in,Sign-in or add schools. But the approver for your school or organisation will be able to help. To find out who your approver is, log in to your DfE Sign-in account and click on the ‘Services’ tab. Then click on ‘See approvers at an organisation’.

Sign-in: IDSR service

Download and use offline

If you want to use the IDSR offline, you have several options.

Option 1 – click the ‘download this page’ button located at the top of the web page. This will download the HTML page automatically to your downloads folder. You do not need an internet connection to view and share it.

Option 2 – click the ‘print this page’ button. This will take you to the print configuration page where you can print as a hard copy document.

Option 3 – click the ‘print this page’ button. This will take you to the print configuration page where, under ‘printer’, you can select ‘save as PDF’. This will convert the page into a PDF which you can then save and share. (Please note that this depends on you having the correct up-to-date software. This may not work on older versions.)

Historic IDSRs

The Ofsted IDSR service does not store historic IDSRs. As soon as a new one is created, the previous one gets overwritten. We advise users to download and save their IDSRs if they need them for future reference.

Reporting data issues

The data in the IDSR is largely provided by the DfE. If your question is about the values displayed, such as the Progress 8 score or cohort, check if the IDSR data matches the data on the ASP and Compare school and college performance in England sites. If the IDSR data matches what has been published, then please contact the DfE. If your question is about calculations that are only used in the IDSR, for example percentile ranks, please email the IDSR team. We will respond as soon as possible. 

Link to a predecessor or successor school

The Ofsted IDSR service will provide a link to a predecessor (or successor) school to view. Some schools with a predecessor will not have a link. This is because we decided not to include predecessor schools if there was no data on them.

School details and release information

The information on the school at the beginning of the report comes from the DfE’s Get information about schools (GIAS) service.

The Ofsted IDSR will always show which release of performance data the report is based on. It will also show the date that the report was last released.

School characteristics

Data source: the DfE’s January school census for 2024, 2023 and 2022.

The chart shows school-level information for the last 3 years. If a school has a sixth form, a separate row will appear that shows information for Years 12, 13 and, where applicable, 14.

The chart contains the following measures:

• the number of pupils on roll

• the percentage of pupils receiving free school meals (FSM). These are pupils who are or have been eligible for FSM and have claimed them some time in the last 6 years (Reception to Year 11) – referred to as FSM6; FSM data is not collected for sixth forms

• the percentage of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) support: those pupils who receive SEN support but who do not have an education, health and care (EHC) plan

• the percentage of pupils with SEN who have a statement of SEN or an EHC plan

• the percentage of pupils whose first language is not English or is believed to be other than English

• the stability percentage for the school

• the school deprivation level

• the pupil deprivation level

For each measure, the school’s figures will show for each year. Text and shading are used to show which quintile the school sits within in the national distribution of schools:

• well above average (blue shading)

• above average

• close to average

• below average

• well below average (orange shading)

Except for the school location deprivation measure, schools are compared with other schools in the same phase: primary (including middle deemed primary) or secondary (including middle deemed secondary and all throughs). Special schools are compared against the national distribution for secondary schools.

Stability is a measure of the percentage of students who were admitted to the school at the standard time of admission. The stability percentage is calculated by dividing the number of pupils who meet the stability criteria by the number of all eligible pupils (pupils in Years 1 to 11 with a single or main dual registration at the school at the time of the January school census). The stability measure is not available for school sixth forms.

A pupil is counted as stable if they joined the school:

• in or before September in Year 1

• in or before the month by which at least 5% of their year group had also joined the school

• in a month/national curriculum year combination in which at least 40% of the year group joined the school (the 40% must equate to at least 10 pupils in primary schools or 20 pupils in secondary schools)

• in a month/national curriculum year combination in which at least 10% of the year group joined the school (the 10% must equate to at least 10 pupils in primary schools or 20 pupils in secondary schools) and the same month/national curriculum year combination met these criteria in at least 1 other year group within the school

The school deprivation level is about the level of deprivation in the school’s local area. The pupil deprivation level is about the deprivation of pupils who attend the school. Each deprivation indicator is based on the income deprivation affecting children index (IDACI). The IDACI is based on 2019 English indices of deprivation.

The IDACI measures the proportion of all children aged 0 to 15 living in income-deprived families. It is a subset of the income-deprivation domain, which measures the proportion of the population in an area experiencing deprivation relating to low income. The definition of ‘low income’ we use includes both those people who are out of work and those who are in work but who have low earnings and who satisfy the respective means tests.

Information about a school’s local area is based on the 2011 lower layer super output area (LSOA) that it falls within. LSOAs are geographical areas designed to improve the reporting of statistics on small areas in England and Wales. They are made up of between 400 and 1,200 households and have a population of between 1,000 and 3,000 people.

You can read further information about the data used for the local area deprivation.

For 16- to 18-year-olds (where applicable), the DfE uses different rules to allocate students to the different measures. The year group characteristics are based on the census data, so there may be students who were no longer on roll as at the January 2024 census but are still allocated to the provider for accountability purposes.

Year group characteristics

Data source: the DfE’s January school census for 2024.

The year group characteristics table shows information on the characteristics of the pupils in each year group. This section will appear for all schools that submit a January school census return to the DfE.

The table presents data on pupils who were recorded as part of the DfE’s January school census. This means the data for each year group is about the pupils who were in that year group last academic year.

The measures included in the table are:

• the number of pupils on roll

• the percentage of pupils receiving FSM. These are pupils who are or have been eligible for FSM and have claimed them some time in the last 6 years (Reception to Year 11) – referred to as FSM6; FSM data is not collected for sixth forms

• the percentage of pupils whose first language is not English or is believed to be other than English

No highlighting is applied to this table; figures are presented for information only.

For 16- to 18-year-olds (where applicable), the DfE uses different rules to allocate students to the different measures. The year group characteristics are based on the census data, so there may be students who were no longer on roll as at the DfE’s January school census but are still allocated to the provider for accountability purposes.

Prior attainment

Data source: the DfE’s January school census for 2024. 

The prior attainment table shows how the school’s pupils performed at the previous key stage compared with all pupils in that year group nationally.

This section will only appear for schools with year groups in the secondary age range (Years 7 to 11 inclusive). This is because there is limited prior attainment data available for other year groups.

The table presents data on pupils who were recorded as part of the DfE’s January school census. This means the data for each year group is about the pupils who were in that year group last academic year.

The data content of the table focuses on the performance of these secondary-age pupils in their key stage 2 assessments:

• the pupils who were in Years 7, 8, and 11 in the latest year’s data sat assessments when they were in key stage 2. The data for these year groups is based on the proportion of the school’s pupils who achieved the expected standard at key stage 2.

• the pupils who were in Years 9 and 10 in the latest year’s data did not sit assessments when they were in key stage 2 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, no prior attainment data is available.

Shading indicates whether the proportion of the school’s pupils who achieved the expected standard at key stage 2 was above or below the national proportion. The shading appears if the school value is at least 1 standard deviation away from the national value. If the proportion was in line with the national value, the text ‘Close to national’ is displayed. If the number of pupils in the cohort was 10 or below, the text ‘Small cohort’ is displayed.

Ethnicity

Data source: the DfE’s January school census for 2024.

The chart displays the ethnic groups within the whole school. There are 17 possible ethnic groups:

• White British

• White Irish

• White Traveller of Irish Heritage

• White Gypsy/Roma

• White Any other White background

• Mixed White and Black Caribbean

• Mixed White and Black African

• Mixed White and Asian

• Mixed Any other Mixed background

• Asian or Asian British Indian

• Asian or Asian British Pakistani

• Asian or Asian British Bangladeshi

• Asian or Asian British Any other Asian background

• Black or Black British Caribbean

• Black or Black British African

• Black or Black British Any other Black background

• Chinese

For this section, ‘Any other ethnic group’, ‘Parent/pupil preferred not to say’ and ‘Ethnicity not known’ are included.

The corresponding national value for each group is displayed.

If the school has a sixth form, a separate ethnicity chart will be displayed.

SEN characteristics

Data source: the DfE’s January school census for 2024 and GIAS service.

The table displays the number of pupils in the school who have SEN and what the primary need category is. The 2 halves of the table represent pupils who have SEN support and pupils who have an EHC plan.

It also shows what year the pupil is in. The text above the tables displays if the school has any resourced provision. This could be a SEN unit, resourced provision or both. The capacity represents the capacity of the provision displayed. The type of SEN provision will list, where applicable, the type of SEN provided for. This section also displays how many pupils with SEN have received FSM at any time during the last 6 years and/or are looked after children (in the care of the local authority for a day or more or who have been adopted from care).

SEN units are special provisions within a mainstream school where the pupils with SEN are taught within separate classes for at least half of their time. Units:

• are designated by the local authority specifically for making SEN provision, and sometimes accommodate pupils registered at other schools on a part-time basis

• receive funding per place, and usually top-up funding for any additional costs of support required by individual pupils

• cater for a specific type or types of SEN (for example autistic spectrum disorder)

• are usually for pupils with an EHC plan (but may also provide support for pupils with SEN support)

Schools should only use this indicator where the SEN unit has been formally recognised as such by the local authority where the school is located.

Resourced provisions are places that are reserved at a mainstream school for pupils with a specific type of SEN, taught for at least half of their time within mainstream classes, but requiring a base and some specialist facilities around the school.

Resourced provisions:

• are designated by the local authority specifically for making this kind of SEN provision

• receive funding per place, and usually top-up funding for any additional costs of support required by individual pupils

• cater for a specific area or areas of SEN (for example specific learning difficulties)

• are usually for pupils with an EHC plan, but could include pupils with SEN support

The capacity of the SEN unit and/or resourced provision will also be displayed alongside the type of SEN provision.

Schools should only use this indicator where the resourced provision has been formally recognised as such by the local authority where the school is located.

Most pupils placed in units will have an EHC plan. It is unlikely that a child would be placed in a unit and also receive support from resourced provision, but a school could have resourced provision for one type of need and a unit for another.

The trust

Data source: the Ofsted inspection outcome data and the DfE’s GIAS service as at the month of the release.

This section provides information about the multi-academy trust (MAT) that the school belongs to. It only applies to schools that are part of a MAT.

It will have information about the number of schools in the trust and their latest inspection outcomes. All-through schools are counted as secondary schools. Schools inspected in the academic year 2024/25 will not receive an overall effectiveness grade.

The grade profile of schools within a MAT will display the outcomes that schools have received under their current URNs. It will be split into 2 sections:

• schools last inspected before September 2024

• schools inspected from September 2024 onwards

In both instances, the latest inspection outcome, which could relate to either a graded or ungraded inspection, will be displayed. If a school was last inspected under a different URN before it joined the MAT, the school will be counted in the ‘not yet received graded or ungraded inspection’ group until it is inspected as part of the MAT. However, if a school was last inspected before it joined the MAT but still possesses the same URN as it had on inspection, the outcome from that inspection will be counted in the grade profile.

Staffing

Data source: the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s 2022/23 ‘view my financial insights’ data, and the DfE’s November 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020 school workforce census data.

The staffing section of the IDSR presents information on several areas relating to staffing.

The proportion of education support staff relative to teaching staff

This sentence reports on the proportion of education support staff relative to teaching staff in the latest year and, where applicable, the 2 previous years.

Per-pupil spending on staff-related areas

This sentence highlights areas of high and low spending in the latest year, when compared with similar schools, in the following staff-related areas:

• agency supply teaching staff

• education support staff

• educational consultancy

• staff development and training

• supply teaching staff

• teaching staff

Spending on teaching staff includes:

• costs for teachers employed directly by the school, including supernumerary/peripatetic teachers on short-term contracts

• all contracted full-time and part-time teachers paid within the scope of the Education Act 2002

• gross pay, including allowances, maternity pay and the employer’s contributions to national insurance and teachers’ pensions

• teaching and learning responsibilities

It excludes:

• any teachers employed casually and directly, for example supply teachers

• any teachers not employed directly by the school, for example agency staff

Spending on salaries and wages for supply teachers consists of gross pay, including allowances, maternity pay and the employer’s contributions to national insurance and pensions.

This applies to staff employed directly by the school who are covering:

• curriculum release absence

• long-term absence

• sickness absence

• training absence

It excludes supply teachers who are not employed directly by the school (that is, who are paid through an agency or another third party), regardless of the period of cover.

Spending on agency supply teaching staff relates to the money paid to an agency for teachers who have been brought in to cover teacher absence.

This includes cover of any period and for all reasons, including illness, training and leave.

It excludes supply teachers employed directly by the school.

Spending: similar schools comparator 

By default, schools are compared with the 30 schools most statistically similar in the same sector (academy or maintained). Initially, a school is matched to the 60 schools that are most statistically similar. From that long list, schools in the same region are automatically selected for the final list of 30. The rest of the group is then made up by prioritising the most statistically similar schools.

The 30 default schools that make up this comparator group are selected based on similarities in pupil characteristics:

• school phase or type

• region

• boarding or non-boarding type

• number of pupils

• percentage of pupils eligible for FSM

• percentage of pupils with SEN, or proportion of various SEN provisions for special schools

Teacher absence

A sentence gives the percentage of teachers with at least 1 period of sickness absence compared with the national rate for the latest 3 years.

Another sentence reports on the average number of days lost to teacher sickness absence in the latest year only.

Sickness absence data collected in the November 2021 census relating to the 2020/21 year was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is not possible to draw accurate comparisons with previous periods because of, for example, limited school openings, online teaching in some schools, and differences in the way sickness absence was recorded. The figures relate to sickness absence only and do not include non-attendance due to, for example, isolation and shielding.

Data on school workforce attendance during the pandemic has been collected through the DfE’s education settings survey.

Staff retention

Information on staff turnover is calculated using the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) turnover leavers and the total FTE staff at the school. A school is considered to have high staff turnover if its turnover rate was in the highest 20% in any of the previous 3 years. Low staff turnover is not highlighted. Special schools are compared with primaries.

Turnover and leavers at a school level can be very volatile year to year. When looking at rates of leavers and turnover, it is important to consider school size, because this has a big impact on rates, particularly for small schools.

Absence

School

Data source: the DfE’s 2023/24 (2 term), 2022/23 (3 term) and 2021/22 (3 term) academic year data.

This section contains tables showing when a school’s percentage of absence or persistent absentees was in the highest or lowest 20% of all schools or of similar schools. This is represented in the following rows of the table:

• ‘Comparison to all schools’ – this profiles the school against all schools in the same phase of education: primary (including middle deemed primary) or secondary (including middle deemed secondary and all throughs). Special schools are compared against the national distribution for secondary schools

• ‘Comparison to all schools with a similar level of deprivation’ – this profiles the school against all schools with the same phase of education and with a similar level of deprivation (in the same IDACI quintile based on deprivation of the pupils in the school cohort)

Absence is the aggregated total of all authorised and unauthorised absences. A pupil is identified as a persistent absentee if they miss 10% or more of their possible sessions.

Local authority

Data source: the DfE’s 2024/25 and 2023/24 ‘pupil attendance in schools’ data.

This section contains a table showing absence data for the local authority in which the school is located. The IDSR displays, for the same phase as the school, the local authority’s percentage of absence for the previous academic year, the current academic year up to and including the most recent week about which we hold data and, separately, for that most recent week. The table also shows when these are in the highest or lowest 20% for all local authorities. Special schools are compared with the national value for secondary schools.

Suspensions and permanent exclusions

Whole school

Data source: the DfE’s 2022/23, 2021/22 and 2020/21 academic year data.

The whole school measure includes all year groups in the school.

This section contains tables displaying information about the total number of suspensions, pupils with 1 or more suspensions, pupils with 2 or more suspensions, pupils with 10 or more suspensions and the total number of permanent exclusions. It also contains the reasons for suspensions and permanent exclusions in the latest year.

Up to 3 reasons can be recorded. These reasons are recorded without weighting or prioritisation. As such, the total number of reasons may exceed the total number of suspensions or permanent exclusions.

The tables for pupils with 1 or more suspensions and pupils with 2 or more suspensions also display the percentage for the school. This is calculated by dividing the number of pupils suspended by the number on roll. These percentages have been calculated for the last 3 years and are displayed in the ‘School %’ row of the table. For each year of data, we have also profiled the school’s suspensions against national comparators, indicating whether the school is in the highest 20%. This is represented in the following rows of the table:

• ‘Comparison to all schools’ – this profiles the school against all schools in the same phase of education: primary (including middle deemed primary) or secondary (including middle deemed secondary and all throughs). Special schools are compared against the national distribution for secondary schools

• ‘Comparison to all schools with a similar level of deprivation’ – this profiles the school against all schools with the same phase of education and with a similar level of deprivation (in the same IDACI quintile based on deprivation of the pupils in the school cohort). This row will not be visible for primary schools – we do not produce the comparison because primary schools have very low suspension rates

The number of pupils who have been permanently excluded is provided for up to the last 3 years. The national average, profiled by phase of education, is also included. Special schools are compared with the national rate for secondary schools.

The numbers and proportions of pupils with suspensions or permanent exclusions are often very small. These should be interpreted with caution, particularly when making comparisons over time. The data on suspensions and permanent exclusions is 1 year behind. It is for the cohort before the one shown on the context page, and the number on roll may have changed.

Further information on pupil exclusion statistics is in the DfE’s pupil exclusion statistics methodology publication.

16 to 18

Data source: the DfE’s 2022/23, 2021/22 and 2020/21 academic year data.

16 to 18 in this section relates to Years 12, 13 and 14, where applicable.

This section contains tables displaying information about the total number of suspensions, pupils with 1 or more suspensions and the total number of permanent exclusions. It also contains the reasons for suspensions and permanent exclusions in the latest year.

Up to 3 reasons can be recorded. These reasons are recorded without weighting or prioritisation. As such, the total number of reasons may exceed the total number of suspensions or permanent exclusions.

Due to the low number of suspensions and permanent exclusions nationally in sixth forms, it has not been possible to make the same comparisons as with the whole school measure (highest 20%). Instead, we present suspensions in the same way as permanent exclusions and display the school number and national number. For the same reason, the IDSR does not show sixth-form students with 2 or more suspensions or with 10 or more suspensions, and it does not compare the school to schools with similar levels of deprivation.

National averages for both suspensions and permanent exclusions are profiled by phase; special schools are compared with the secondary national value.

Further information on pupil exclusion statistics is in the DfE’s pupil exclusion statistics methodology publication.

Pupil movement

Data source: movement between the DfE’s January school censuses for 20222023 and 2023,2024, as well as 20212022 and 2022.2023.

We have used pupil-level data from the DfE’s January school census to identify pupils who were in a given year in each school in January of one year, and whether they were still in the same school in January of the following year.

The pupil movement section presents 2 different measures of pupil movement:

• pupils who were present in Year 10 in the first school census, but not in Year 11 in the second, at the same school

• pupils who were present in the first school census in Years 7, 8, 9 or 10, but did not appear in the second, at the same school

The pupil movement section of the IDSR only covers pupil movement for secondary Years 7, 8, 9 or 10.

We do not use the census data from other school terms for this analysis, for example the autumn term census. This may mean that the figures do not match those produced by some schools or local authorities.

We developed a logistic multi-level model that uses contextual factors to estimate the proportion of pupils that we might expect to leave each school. This is for movements between Years 10 and 11 only. Our analysis shows that these contextual factors are associated with higher levels of pupil movement. The contextual factors that the model takes into account are pupils’ and schools’ characteristics. Pupil movement between Years 10 and 11 may be highlighted as ‘significant’ if pupil movement was higher than estimated by the model.

The following are the pupils’ characteristics:

• gender

• eligibility for FSM in the past 6 years

• speaking English as an additional language

• key stage 2 attainment (low, middle, high or not present in key stage 2)

• having SEN, especially social, emotional or mental health issues

• being in either the White Irish Traveller or White Roma ethnic group

• being looked after by a local authority

• IDACI of home postcode

The model also takes into account whether the school area is urban.

This section of the IDSR also provides information about pupils who have left the school and then do not appear in the subsequent DfE January school census in one of the following school types:

• maintained nursery

• primary

• middle deemed primary

• middle deemed secondary

• secondary

• all-through

• special schools (including non-maintained special schools)

• pupil referral units/alternative provision

• academies (including free schools, university technical colleges and studio schools)

• city technology colleges

There are destinations outside of the census that the pupil may have moved to, which the school may have information about that they can share with inspectors.

This section is not produced for special schools or service children’s education providers.

Links to alternative provision and other providers

Data source: the DfE’s summerautumn term 2024 alternative provision placements data.

The table shows information about alternative provision placements. This section will appear for all schools that submitted information on alternative provision placements in the latest data.

The placements include alternative provision, companies, providers registered with the UK Register of Learning Providers, further education and other schools.

The total number of pupils is shown, as well as the number of pupils attending full time and part time. Numbers in brackets are additional pupils who were attending the alternative provision but left during the census period.

Example

URN	UKPRN	Companies House number	Postcode	Provider type	Provider name	Total pupils	Full time	Part time
123456	-	-	AB1 2AB	Free Schools Alternative Provision	Example Academy	4 (2)	2 (1)	2 (1)

In the example school above, 6 pupils in total were placed at the alternative provision; 3 of these were part time and 3 were full time. However, the total pupils column shows that 4 pupils remained in the placement at the end of the census period, with 2 having left during the census period. The final 2 columns show that 1 full-time pupil and 1 part-time pupil left during the period.

Attainment in phonics and at key stage 2

Data source: the DfE’s provisionalrevised (key stage 2)/final (phonics/MTC) 2024, final 2023 and final 2022 data.

The table displays where measures are significantly above or below the national value, alongside the associated percentile. The cohort, school value and national value are also displayed.

Arrows indicate whether the school’s value, when compared with the national value, has changed. A dark shaded upward arrow indicates that the difference between the school’s value and the national value has increased since the comparator year (a difference of at least 2 standard deviations). An upward arrow in a lighter shade indicates that the difference between the school’s value and the national value has increased slightly since the comparator year (difference of at least 1 standard deviation). Arrows pointing downwards indicate that the difference between the school’s value and the national value has decreased, with the same shading rules. A horizontal line means that the difference between the school’s value and the national value is similar to the difference between its value and the national value in the comparator year (the difference was less than 1 standard deviation or there were 10 or fewer pupils).

A standard deviation is a measure of how dispersed the data is in relation to the mean. A small standard deviation indicates that data is clustered tightly around the mean and a large standard deviation indicates that data is more spread out.

The following measures are contained in this section:

• phonics Year 1 meeting the expected standard

• key stage 2 reading meeting the expected standard

• key stage 2 reading achieving the higher standard

• key stage 2 writing meeting the expected standard

• key stage 2 writing achieving greater depth

• key stage 2 mathematics meeting the expected standard

• key stage 2 mathematics achieving the higher standard

• key stage 2 reading, writing and mathematics meeting the expected standard

• key stage 2 English grammar, punctuation and spelling (EGPS) meeting the expected standard

• key stage 2 EGPS achieving the higher standard

• key stage 2 multiplication tables check (MTC)

Additional sentences will be displayed below the table about the outcomes in the phonics screening check for both Year 1 and Year 2 pupils (where relevant). The sentences show:

• the total number of pupils who were eligible to be screened for phonics

• how many of them sat the check (and how many did not, where applicable)

• details of how many pupils did not meet the expected standard (where applicable)

• the average mark for pupils who did not meet the expected standard (where the number not meeting the standard was greater than 10)

The number of pupils who did not sit the phonics screening check includes (where applicable) the number who were absent, the number who were disapplied, and the number where there was maladministration.  

You can find more information on the accountability measures in this DfE guidance document:

• primary school accountability

Subject entries at key stage 4

Data source: the DfE’s provisional 2024, final 2023 and final 2022 data.

English Baccalaureate entry

The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) is a set of subjects at GCSE that keeps young people’s options open for further study and future careers. The EBacc consists of English language and literature, mathematics, science, geography or history, and a language. A pupil must have studied all of these subjects to be considered as having entered the EBacc. The DfE has published further guidance about the EBacc.

The EBacc entry data is calculated using early entry and discounting rules. This means that pupils who entered EBacc subjects in the previous year will have those entries counted towards their EBacc entry rate in the latest year.

The sentence below will appear for every school where at least 11 pupils reached the end of key stage 4 in the latest year. This describes the EBacc entry rate for the school in the latest year. It may be followed by another sentence that details the subject cluster with the lowest rate of EBacc entry (if the entry rate for that cluster was below 75%). This could be English, mathematics, science, humanities or languages.

Subject entries table

This section shows the subjects that this school entered for in the latest 3 years and the number of entries for each. It also highlights if the school had a high or low average point score in a particular subject compared with other schools, where applicable.

The entries figure represents the number of exam entries rather than the number of pupils entered. Exam entries are counted in the academic year when the pupil who entered for the exam reached the end of key stage 4. Therefore, if a pupil was entered for the same subject in 2 different exam seasons, this would count as 2 entries in the academic year when they finished their key stage 4 study. As an example, imagine a pupil who was entered for GCSE English literature when they were in Year 10, then was entered again for GCSE English literature when they were in Year 11 in the latest year. This would count as 2 entries into English literature GCSE in the latest performance year. Discounting has not been applied to this table and it includes entries that may not have counted in performance measures.

The purple shading is darker where there was a greater number of entries. Subjects are grouped by EBacc and sector subject area, and then listed alphabetically by subject. EBacc subjects are presented at the top by default. The sector subject areas are based on those listed in the qualification descriptions.

A shaded box and corresponding text will appear if the average point score for pupils in a particular subject is in the highest or lowest 20% of all schools and only if entry levels were at or above national entries. Cohorts of 10 or fewer will not be highlighted.

Qualification type is also included, which covers the following:

• AS

• EBacc AS

• EBacc GCSE

• EBacc level 1/level 2 certificate

• free-standing maths level 3

• GCSE

• graded music

• level 1/level 2 certificate

• level 1

• level 1/2

• level 2

• other at level 1

• other at level 2

Please note that for technical awards, any entries for a level 1 qualification may be grouped with those for the level 2 qualification in the same subject. Such figures will be represented as a single row where the ‘Qualification type’ is listed as ‘Level 1/2.’

The cohorts above the section represent total pupils at the end of key stage 4.

Progress and attainment at key stage 4

Data source: the DfE’s provisional 2024, final 2023 and final 2022 data.

The ‘progress and attainment at key stage 4’ table displays where measures are significantly above or below the national value, alongside the associated percentile. The cohort, value and national value are also displayed.

Arrows indicate whether the school’s value, when compared with the national value, has changed. A dark shaded upward arrow indicates that the difference between the school’s value and the national value has increased since the comparator year (a difference of at least 2 standard deviations). An upward arrow in a lighter shade indicates that the difference between the school’s value and the national value has increased slightly since the comparator year (a difference of at least 1 standard deviation). Arrows pointing downwards indicate that the difference between the school’s value and the national value has decreased, with the same shading rules. A horizontal line means that the difference between the school’s value and the national value is similar to the difference between its value and the national value in the comparator year (the difference was less than 1 standard deviation or there were 10 or fewer pupils).

A standard deviation is a measure of how dispersed the data is in relation to the mean. Low, or small, standard deviation indicates data is clustered tightly around the mean, and high, or large, standard deviation indicates data is more spread out.

The following measures are contained in this section:

• overall Progress 8

• English element of Progress 8

• mathematics element of Progress 8

• EBacc element of Progress 8

• open element of Progress 8

• overall Attainment 8

• English element of Attainment 8

• mathematics element of Attainment 8

• EBacc element of Attainment 8

• open element of Attainment 8

• science value added

• languages value added

• humanities value added

• English % at grade 4 or above/grade 5 or above

• mathematics % at grade 4 or above/grade 5 or above

• science % at grade 4 or above/grade 5 or above

• languages % at grade 4 or above/grade 5 or above

• humanities % at grade 4 or above/grade 5 or above

You can find more information on the accountability measures in this DfE guidance document:

Secondary accountability measures (including Progress 8 and Attainment 8)

Destinations after key stage 4

Data source: the DfE’s provisional for 2022 leavers, revised for 2021 leavers and revised for 2020 leavers data.

This table displays the proportion of pupils who continued to complete specified destinations. This data is publicly available and comes from the DfE’s destinations collection.

The destination information in this section relates to the pupils who were in key stage 4 2 years before the pupils to which the latest performance data in the IDSR relates, and who have sustained their destination for 6 months after completing key stage 4. Information on pupils from the same cohort who did not sustain their destination for 6 months is also presented alongside the category where no activity beyond key stage 4 was captured.

Blue boxes indicate if a figure was, statistically, significantly above the national average. Orange boxes indicate if a figure was, statistically, significantly below the national average.

If data has been suppressed because the cohort was small, then ‘small cohort’ will be shown in the table. This follows the rules used by the DfE.

A separate table will be presented for disadvantaged pupils. The national figure in this table is the national average for all other pupils who are not disadvantaged. Disadvantaged pupils are those who were eligible for FSM at any time during the last 6 years and/or looked after children (in the care of the local authority for a day or more or who have been adopted from care).

IDSRs for service children’s education providers will only have the destinations for the latest year due to data availability.

16 to 18 qualification types and retention

Data source qualification type: the DfE’s finalrevised 2023,2024, final 20222023 and final 20192022 data.

Data source retention: the DfE’s final 2023, final 2022 and final 2019 data.

Qualification types

This table displays the proportion of students undertaking each type of qualification.

Students may be working towards more than one type of qualification and so may be counted more than once. Students taking courses that are not full qualifications are not included. Students taking academic qualifications other than A levels are not included in the table under individual qualification types but are included in the cohort information. Therefore, the percentages may not add up to 100.

Below the table is a sentence that appears when there is something significant or exceptional to highlight about the proportion of students who have not taken any level 3 or level 2 DfE-approved qualification in the latest year. This highlights when a school is in the highest or lowest 20% nationally for the latest year or the latest 2 years.

A sentence will also be shown if the school is delivering T levels in 2023/24,2024/25, as shown in published DfE data.

Retention on main study programmes

This section provides data on the extent to which a provider retained students to the end of the main learning aim of their study programme in the latest 3 years. The measure used in this section is ‘retained and assessed’.

Students are counted in the retained and assessed measure if they are retained to the end of their course and are assessed. The assessment may not necessarily be in the same subject or type of qualification they were aiming for when their studies began. However, the assessment must be at the same level and at least the same size as the main aim. For example, a student with an original main aim of tech level at size 1 would be considered as retained and assessed with an applied general exam result of at least size 1.

Data is presented for 4 study programmes:

• A levels (including AS level)

• level 3 applied general

• level 3 tech level

• level 2 technical certificate

Since 2019, only technical certificates have been recognised as level 2 vocational qualifications in the 16 to 18 performance tables. In 2018, the DfE reported a broader range of qualifications. The DfE’s 16 to 18 qualifications guidance lists all the qualifications that count in the performance tables each year from 2018 to 2026. The DfE also publishes further guidance about 14 to 19 technical and applied qualifications.

A student’s study programme is defined based on their main aim. The DfE’s 16 to 18 accountability measures technical guide provides further information on how this is defined.

Subject entries at 16 to 18

Data source: the DfE’s revised 2024, final 2023 and final 2022 data.

This section shows the subjects the school entered pupils for in the latest 2 years and the number of entries for each.

The entries figure represents the number of exam entries rather than the number of pupils entered. Exam entries are counted in the academic year when the pupil who was entered for the exam reached the end of their 16 to 18 course of study. Therefore, if a pupil was entered for the same subject in 2 different exam seasons, this would count as 2 entries in the academic year when they finished their course of study. As an example, imagine a pupil who was entered for a technical certificate in business studies when they were in Year 12, then was entered again when they were in Year 13 in the latest year. This would count as 2 entries into the business studies technical certificate in the latest performance year. Discounting has not been applied to this table and this includes entries that may not have counted in performance measures.

The purple shading is darker where there was a higher number of entries. Subjects are grouped by subject cluster and listed alphabetically, first by cluster then by subject.

Qualification type is also included, which covers the following:

• A level

• applied single award

• applied double award

• pre-U principal

• international baccalaureate

The cohorts above the section represent total students at the end of 16 to 18.

Progress and attainment at 16 to 18

Data source: the DfE’s finalrevised 2023,2024, final 20222023 and final 20192022 data.

The ‘attainment at 16 to 18’ table displays where measures are significantly above or below the national value alongside the associated percentile. The cohort, value and national value are also displayed.

Arrows indicate whether the school’s value, when compared with the national value, has changed. A dark shaded upward arrow indicates that the difference between the school’s value and the national value has increased since the comparator year (a difference of at least 2 standard deviations). An upward arrow in a lighter shade indicates that the difference between the school’s value and national value has increased slightly since the comparator year (a difference of at least 1 standard deviation). Arrows pointing downwards indicate that the difference between the school’s value and national value has decreased, with the same shading rules. A horizontal line means that the difference between the school’s value and the national value is similar to the difference between its value and the national value in the comparator year (difference was less than 1 standard deviation or there were 10 or fewer pupils).

A standard deviation is a measure of how dispersed the data is in relation to the mean. Low, or small, standard deviation indicates that data is clustered tightly around the mean; high, or large, standard deviation indicates that data is more spread out.

The following measures are contained in this section:

• A level average point score

• tech level average point score

• best 3 A levels average point score

• applied general average point score

• A level AAB %

Destinations after 16 to 18

Data source: the DfE’s provisional for 2022 leavers, revised for 2021 leavers, and revised for 2020 leavers data.

This table displays the proportion of students who completed their study programme at the provider who went on to sustained education or employment, who went on to a destination that was not sustained or whose activity was not captured. It further shows what proportion of all students went on to an apprenticeship, to any education and to higher education.

The destination information in this section relates to the 16 to 18 cohort from 2 years before the cohort about which the latest performance data in the IDSR relates, and who have sustained their destination for 6 months after completing 16 to 18 education. Information on pupils from the same cohort who did not sustain their destination for 6 months is also presented alongside the category where no activity beyond 16 to 18 was captured.

Blue boxes indicate if a figure was, statistically, significantly above the national average. Orange boxes indicate when a figure was, statistically, significantly below the national average.

If data has been suppressed because the cohort was small, then ‘small cohort’ will be shown in the table. This follows the rules used by the DfE.

A separate table will be presented for disadvantaged pupils. The national figure in this table is the national average for all other pupils who are not disadvantaged. Disadvantaged pupils are those who were eligible for FSM at any time during the last 6 years and/or looked after children (in the care of the local authority for a day or more or who have been adopted from care).

For the destinations, the DfE uses a flexible end year to determine which students are included in the measure. The DfE’s 16 to 18 accountability measures technical guide contains further information on the methodology.

This data is taken from the DfE source Destinations of KS4 and 16 to 18 (KS5) students: 2022, which includes full definitions of the measures used and further breakdowns of the data.

Pupil groups

Data source: the DfE’s provisionalrevised (key stage 2)/final (phonics/MTC) 2024, provisional 2024 (secondary) and 2023/24 (2 term) absence academic year data.

Differences between pupil groups can be meaningless when analysed at school level, particularly when the groups are small. The conversation should be about meeting the needs of all pupils.

This section may contain up to 3 tables of measures, depending on the school phase. The ‘Primary’ and/or ‘Secondary’ tables display the performance of pupil groups at the corresponding phase of education. Measures are generated for the pupil groups FSM6 and/or CLA and low/middle/high prior attainers. The ‘Absence’ table displays if the school’s absence percentage is in the highest or lowest 20% of pupils eligible for FSM at any time during the last 6 years and/or looked after children (in the care of the local authority for a day or more or who have been adopted from care), pupils with SEN and pupils who speak English as an additional language. Only the latest year’s data is assessed in this section. Cohorts of less than 11 are not included in this section.

For the tables of performance measures, shaded boxes and text will appear for a pupil group measure (such as the Progress 8 average for low prior attainers) where the following 2 conditions are both met:

1. The pupil group measure is significantly different from the national comparator for that pupil group. It may be either significantly above or significantly below the comparator

2. The national comparison for the pupil group measure is different from the national comparison for the whole school (all pupils), that is, the Progress 8 average for all pupils

For example, if Progress 8 for all pupils is not significantly different from the national figure but Progress 8 for low prior attainers is significantly above the national figure, the low attainers group will be highlighted. If Progress 8 for all pupils and Progress 8 for low prior attainers are both significantly above the national figure, then the group will not be highlighted. All possible combinations of national comparisons for a pupil group measure and national comparisons for the whole school are illustrated in the table below, along with whether that combination will result in the measure appearing in this section.

Comparison to national for whole school	Comparison to national for pupil group	Will the measure appear?
Significantly above national	Significantly above national	No
Significantly above national	In line with national	No
Significantly above national	Significantly below national	Yes
In line with national	Significantly above national	Yes
In line with national	In line with national	No
In line with national	Significantly below national	Yes
Significantly below national	Significantly above national	Yes
Significantly below national	In line with national	No
Significantly below national	Significantly below national	No

The text and shading are based on significance when compared with the corresponding national value for each measure, except for the FSM6 and/or CLA pupil group, which is compared with the national figure for pupils who are not FSM6 and/or CLA.

Primary

Prior attainment groups for key stage 2 are not available this year, as key stage 2 pupils did not have key stage 1 assessments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This means the only group that could be displayed in this section is FSM6 and/or CLA.

Pupil group measures are based on the expected standard and do not appear for the high standard.

It was not possible to flag group measures for phonics attainment; this is due to the spread of the data.

It was not possible to flag group measures for attainment in MTC; this is because we do not receive details of pupil prior attainment or characteristics in the MTC results data.

Secondary

Prior attainment groups are based on overall key stage 2 prior attainment, which is calculated using reading and mathematics.

Absence

Absence measures are generated for pupils eligible for FSM at any time during the last 6 years and/or looked after children (in the care of the local authority for a day or more or who have been adopted from care), pupils with SEN and pupils who speak English as an additional language. They are based on data from the latest academic year.

For the ‘Absence’ table, the shading and text generally follow the same rules as for the tables of performance measures, except that, for absence, the text and shading are based on quintile (highest/lowest 20%). For example, if the school’s percentage of persistent absentees for all pupils is not in the highest 20% nationally, but the school percentage of persistent absentees for pupils with SEN is in the highest 20% nationally, the SEN pupil group will be highlighted. If the school’s percentage of persistent absentees for all pupils and for pupils with SEN are both in the highest 20% nationally, then the group will not be highlighted.

Further notes

Note that:

• because low and high prior attainment groups are small, it is much less likely that these measures will appear

• pupil group measures for suspensions and exclusions will not be shown

• pupil group measures for performance for 16 to 18 will not be shown – it was not possible to calculate pupil group measures for 16 to 18 in 2023, because no value-added or completion and attainment data was available because of COVID-19

Understanding the data in the IDSR

Statistical significance

Assessment data and information are starting points for inspectors’ discussion with schools. We use statistical significance testing to draw attention to noteworthy values. These values show when differences in the school’s performance may be due to more than chance variation. The IDSR uses percentile ranking as well as statistical significance testing. This allows us to look at relative performance across time while also highlighting noteworthy changes.

For progress measures, the DfE provides Ofsted with the 95% confidence intervals, enabling us to calculate the statistical significance. The DfE publishes guidance about the Progress 8 data and confidence intervals.

There can be slight differences between Compare school and college performance in England and the IDSR, including for Progress 8, because of different rounding methodology. For ‘Compare school and college performance,’ the bandings are calculated from rounded data and this is an established convention in the performance tables. They base their bandings, and whether they consider a school’s score to be above or below average (significantly different from 0), on the published value of the confidence interval at 2 decimal places. For example, they do not treat a school with an upper confidence limit of -0.00234, which is rounded up and shown as 0.00, as significantly below average. The IDSR, however, uses unrounded values and will, for example, show a school with an upper confidence limit of -0.00234 as significantly below average.

Statistical significance calculations use cohort size, or number of pupils, in the calculation. Therefore, a large cohort is much more likely to show a statistically significant difference from national averages than a small cohort.

Significance calculation for threshold measures

We use a normal approximation to the binomial distribution to identify statistically significant differences between proportions of pupils.

Before applying the test, we check that:

nP

and

n(1-P)

are greater than or equal to 5.

When:

• P represents the national average of pupils reaching the expected standard

• n represents the total number of pupils

The calculation is as follows:

Otherwise not statistically significant.

When:

We apply this methodology to the following performance measures:

• key stage 2 expected standard and high standard/greater depth thresholds

• Year 1 phonics

• destinations

Year-on-year arrows – worked example

School A’s data for the last 2 years is shown below:

Data year	% expected standard	National % expected standard	National standard deviation	Difference from national	Difference in standard deviation
Previous year	54%	75%	20	-21 percentage points	-1
Latest year	96%	75%	20	+21 percentage points	+1

When we compare the difference in standard deviation from one year to the next, the school has moved up by 2 standard deviations (from -1 to +1); therefore, the IDSR will show a dark upward arrow.

Absence and exclusions

The first release of the IDSR in each academic year includes absence data. This will be in the form of 1 term data before being updated with 2 term and then 3 term later in the academic year.

The permanent exclusions and suspensions data is 1 year behind. For example, 2022/23 exclusions data was published in 2024. Exclusions data is for cohorts before the one shown on the context page and the number on roll may have changed.

For absence and suspensions, special schools are compared with the national value for secondary schools. For permanent exclusions, special schools are compared with the national value for special schools.

Special schools and pupils with SEN

An IDSR is produced for special schools. However, it may contain very little information about the performance of pupils.

Pupils with SEN are a diverse group with differing needs and expectations. Therefore, the IDSR will no longer display any averages for this group.

The IDSR provides contextual information for the group, including the breakdown of the number of pupils with SEN by primary special educational need.

Junior and middle schools

A standard sentence explains that junior and middle schools have lower progress scores on average. Also, due to the age range of pupils at middle schools, pupils will have only attended a middle school for a short time before they take their key stage 2 tests.

Inspectors should be aware of this and, as with any inspection, carefully consider a range of information and data.

Missing data

There are a few possible reasons why data for some years is not shown for a particular measure.

In charts and tables, data may not be shown for some years because:

• the measure did not exist, was defined differently or was not available to Ofsted for that year; if this is the case, the data is shown as a dash

• the school had no pupils for a particular measure in that year; if this is the case, the cohort will be shown as a 0 and a dash will be shown for the measure

• if the school recently changed legal status, for example from a local authority maintained school to a sponsor-led academy, the data may be shown under the predecessor school name or unique reference number (URN) in ASP

National figures

The national figures may differ from the figures published in the DfE’s performance tables and ASP. This is due to the varying decimal precisions used between organisations and that we do not include special schools.

The FSM6 and/or CLA pupil group is compared with the national figure for pupils who are not FSM6 and/or CLA.

Prior attainment pupil groups are compared with their respective pupil group nationally.

Service children’s education providers have been assigned a phase based on the ages of pupils in the school.

Cohorts and numbers of pupils included

Cohorts display the total number of pupils based on the group and year of the measure presented.

For measures when all pupils were entered, the cohort shows the number of pupils the measure is based on. For some measures, it is used as the denominator for percentages.

If there have been any leavers and joiners, then the cohort number shown on progress and attainment data may not match the context section. The context section is a snapshot of the day the school census is taken in January of that year.

The ‘number of pupils included’ on progress pages only includes pupils with prior attainment information.

16 to 18 cohorts

The DfE uses different rules to allocate students to the different measures. The year group characteristics are based on the census data, so there may be students who are no longer on roll but still allocated to the provider for accountability purposes.

For the destinations, the DfE uses a flexible end year to determine which students are included in the measure. There are more details in the accountability guide.

Conditions of use

The IDSR conditions of use and storage are that:

• the IDSR is to be used only for educational and analytical purposes and for informing inspection, not for any other purpose

• data presented in the IDSR is to be shared only with those who need it and are authorised to have access to it

• only nominated users may access the IDSR, and these users must be made aware that they cannot share the IDSR without permission from the data owner

• the IDSR should be saved in a secure location with limited access

Data protection

When accessing the data in the Ofsted IDSR service, you must recognise the privacy of that data and always comply with the Data Protection Act 2018. The Data Protection Act 2018 is the UK’s implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). You must ensure that you use the data that you have access to for the purpose for which the service was set up and that you do not use the data for any other purpose. You must ensure that the data is processed securely and that it is not subject to any unauthorised use or disclosure.