Additional guidance on judging
attainment and achievement
Judgements about attainment and achievement
This additional guidance clarifies the critical part played by professional judgement in
making the key inspection judgements about attainment and achievement.
Attainment
The evaluation schedule for schools and Attainment: supplementary guidance for
section 5 inspectors provides guidance for inspectors’ judgements about pupils’
attainment. The evaluation schedule makes clear that, for all judgements, the grade
descriptors and the associated outline guidance should be interpreted in the context
of the particular school being inspected. The supplementary guidance explains that
professional judgement plays a crucial part when inspectors are interpreting data and
when they are confirming initial hypotheses by looking at the school’s own data,
talking to teachers and pupils and looking at the pupils’ work. This guidance also
suggests how the profile of indicators in RAISEonline gives an initial indication of
the general standard of attainment.
However, statements in the supplementary guidance such as ‘over half (the
attainment indicators) need to be sig+ before grade 2 can be considered’ must not
be interpreted as setting rigid constraints which determine final inspection
judgements. Such statements are not intended to be prescriptive; rather, they
provide general guidance to indicate the types of scenarios which might support preinspection hypotheses about attainment.
Inspectors must also take account of the size of the school and the nature of
statistical significance. For example, the value of a particular attainment indicator in
RAISEonline may be significantly positive (or negative) in a large school, while the
same value may not be significantly different from average in a school with smaller
year groups. In this sense it is less likely for small schools to have significantly
positive or negative attainment indicators.
As with all judgements, inspectors must exercise professional judgement, weighing
the full range of evidence that they have gathered, taking into account the context of
the school.
Achievement
The evaluation schedule for schools explains how the key inspection judgement
about achievement takes account of the pupils’ attainment and the quality of
learning and progress for all pupils and for pupils with special educational needs
and/or disabilities.
The likely configuration of attainment, learning and progress and achievement
grades is set out on pages 15 and 16 of the evaluation schedule. This indicates that
in ‘exceptional cases’ achievement may be satisfactory when attainment is low and
learning and progress are satisfactory. This would only be the case when there is
convincing evidence that learning and progress are improving securely and quickly. If
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inspectors decide that this is the case they must explain their judgements clearly
and provide a convincing account of how the school is improving pupils’ learning and
progress.
In order to support a judgement that low attainment is compatible with good
achievement there must be compelling evidence that the quality of pupils’ learning
and progress is outstanding. For example:
 Pupils’ attainment on entry to the school may be exceptionally low, so that even
when their attainment is below average when they leave there is convincing
evidence that they have significantly ‘closed the gap’ because learning and
progress have been outstanding
 While attainment is low there is a strong upward trend, underpinned by
convincing evidence, including particularly that gathered through lesson
observations, that this will be sustained.
On rare occasions, while the quality of learning and progress is not yet outstanding,
it may be consistently good and outstanding for particular groups of pupils, with
convincing evidence of sustained improvement across the school. In these
exceptional circumstances achievement may be judged to be good.
Whenever inspectors decide that there is convincing evidence that pupils’
achievement is good, even though their attainment is low, they must explain clearly
why outstanding or good and improving learning and progress have not enabled
pupils to attain broadly average standards.
Judging achievement in junior schools
The priority for inspectors is to establish pupils’ attainment on entry. Key Stage 1
assessment results are an important source of evidence but it is as important to take
into account the school’s own entry data. Effective junior schools will want to
establish, for themselves, the baseline for each Year 3 cohort. This is particularly the
case where pupils are joining the school from more than one feeder infant school.
It is important that inspectors examine carefully any information provided by the
junior school about the attainment of its pupils on entry. The school should be able
to provide the inspection team with a robust set of data drawn from a range of tests
and/or assessments including, in particular, some element that cross references
pupils’ reading and writing abilities against the end of Key Stage 1 requirements
(phonic knowledge, ability to read and spell high frequency words, writing at level
2b+, reading at 2b + or reading ages). Inspectors will want to reassure themselves
that the school has quickly and correctly identified those pupils that did not meet the
Key Stage 1 thresholds and, conversely, those that exceeded the thresholds.
Inspectors will need to exercise professional judgement when there are marked
differences between the picture emerging from the school’s own data and the Key
Stage 1 assessment results. If the school has received examples of work from the
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January 2011, No 100143
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feeder infant schools, it is worthwhile comparing these with the work completed by
pupils early in Year 3. The rigour and accuracy of the school’s assessment
procedures will be an important contributory factor to inspectors’ view about
attainment on entry.
Following through this line of enquiry into Year 3 classes is likely to be a priority in
inspections of junior schools. Lesson observations, particularly when the inspection
takes place early in the academic year, should seek to establish whether the junior
school has correctly identified the different ability groups. Inspectors will want to
investigate how well pupils are learning and the progress they are making.
Inspectors should be alert to the fact that Year 3 classes are likely to include some
pupils who have not completely mastered the Key Stage 1 skills of reading and
writing. It is important that the school has taken effective action to ensure that these
pupils make rapid progress to fill the gaps in their knowledge and skills. If there is
any evidence that pupils have regressed over the summer break then it is vital that
inspectors are reassured that such pupils are helped to get back on track quickly.
Judging achievement in middle schools
Again, the critical issue for inspectors is to form an accurate view of pupils’
attainment on entry and when they leave the school.
Key Stage 1 assessment results may not provide an accurate picture of pupils’
attainment on entry to a middle school because this will depend on the progress they
have made in the intervening years. If, for example, pupils make only modest
progress in their last years in a first school, their attainment when they transfer to
the middle school may be lower than suggested by their Key Stage 1 assessment
results. It is important, therefore, that inspectors examine carefully any data
provided by the middle school about the attainment of its pupils on entry. Inspectors
will need to exercise professional judgement when there are marked differences
between the picture emerging from the school’s own, recent data and the earlier Key
Stage 1 assessment results. The rigour and accuracy of the school’s assessment
procedures will be an important contributory factor to inspectors’ view about
attainment on entry.
Inspectors will need to adopt a similar approach to judging pupils’ attainment when
they leave the middle school. This is a key judgement because it will determine the
grade awarded for attainment. Again, Key Stage 2 test results may not reflect pupils’
attainment when they leave the middle school and inspectors will need to consider
carefully any data provided by the school about the attainment of pupils at the end
of their final year.
Similar considerations apply to the interpretation of Key Stage 1 to 2 contextual
value-added measures in RAISEonline. These often provide a useful starting point for
evaluating pupils’ overall progress from Year 2 to Year 6, but in the case of a middle
school inspectors must remember that only part of that time was spent in the school
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January 2011, No 100143
they are inspecting. Again, much will depend on whether the middle school can
provide accurate and credible data about pupils’ progress.
When inspectors have formed a clear view about the attainment of pupils on entry
and when they leave, they will be able make a secure judgement about pupils’
overall progress in the middle school. Inspectors should consider this, together with
the quality of pupils’ learning across the school, to make the key judgement about
achievement, in line with the evaluation schedule and the additional guidance we
have published.
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January 2011, No 100143
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