BACKGROUND

Why the need for change?

Since 1992, the main indicators published for each school in the secondary school performance tables have been based solely on GCSE and (since 1997) GNVQ results. Achievements in other vocational qualifications are reported in the tables but these are shown in a separate column and do not feature in the key indicators upon which a school's overall performance is judged. The achievements of 15 year old pupils in Entry level qualifications and GCE and VCE AS examinations do not currently feature at all in the main secondary school tables. In practice this means that some schools may be reluctant to enter their pupils for qualifications that do not count in the tables.

All qualifications have value in their own right as part of a fully-rounded educational experience and as a pathway towards further learning and employment. The Department's 14-19 strategy, as set out in the document 14-19: opportunity and excellence, issued in January 2003, aims to create a more flexible system for that age group, with a greater emphasis on high-quality vocational opportunities and clear progression routes for everyone into skilled employment and further learning. Schools will expect to receive full recognition of their efforts to broaden the curriculum opportunities available to their pupils in the 14-19 phase.

Counting all approved qualifications, including Entry level qualifications and early entry AS examinations, in the performance tables will ensure that schools receive full credit for all the qualifications they help their pupils to achieve rather than for just some of them as they do now.

QCA's work

QCA have placed a value on all qualifications approved for use pre-16 - on a scale equivalent to GCSEs - so that they can be included in the main indicators in the performance tables. In doing so, they had to ensure that vocational qualifications receive the degree of credit in the tables that fairly reflects their scope and degree of difficulty.

This pilot study will test the impact of QCA's work and assess the feasibility of embedding such a system in performance measurement for all schools.

It is important to note that the point-scoring system developed by QCA is designed for use as a means of institutional performance measurement. It is not intended that the figures replace national systems used for other purposes, for example the UCAS tariff.

More detailed information on how the figures have been calculated can be found in the Technical annex at the back of this booklet or in the QCA report Including all approved qualifications in school and college performance indicators: Phase one report. This is available on line at:

http://www.qca.org.uk/14-19/developments/index_including-all-approved.htm

About the 2003 pilot to include all approved qualifications

The Department provided the participating schools with results for pupils in all approved qualifications that were achieved up to the end of the 2002/2003 academic year. These were used to calculate the 'output' score for the value added measures, the percentage indicators and the average point score. The Key Stage 2 (KS2) and Key Stage 3 (KS3) test results that form the 'input' score for the value added calculations were also provided. The schools were asked to check each pupil's results and ensure that all results were attributed correctly.

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