GCSE EXAMINATION RESULTS 2023

	2023	2022	2019
Grade 4+ in English and Maths	41%	42%	45%
Grade 4+ in English	58%	58%	59%
Grade 4+ in Maths	48%	50%	53%
Grade 5+ in English and Maths	21%	21%	29%
Grade 5+ English	33%	44%	44%
Grade 5+ in Maths	27%	25%	33%
English Baccalaureate APS	2.8	3.1	3.29
Progress 8	-0.83	-0.59	-0.62
Attainment 8	33.8	35.4	36.47

Destinations for Y11

Pupils staying in education or employment for at least 2 terms after key stage 4. The National Average for comparison is 94%.

*This was impacted by a number of students moving abroad who could not return due to the pandemic. Many rejoined us late but did not make it onto the leavers' data. 

2020	2019	2018	2017
86%*	94%	95%	97%

KS5 Examination Results 2022

A Levels

	2022	2019
A* - A	7%	4%
A* - B	15%	8%
A* - C	31%	33%
A* - E	82%	81%

POST 16 Progress Information

	2022	2019	2018
A Levels	N/A	-0.22	-0.23
Applied General	N/A	0.78	0.79

There is no progress data for 2022 due to the Covid Pandemic impacting on GCSE results in 2020.

Post 16-19 Study: Destinations Information

Following completion of a student’s 16-19 programme of study, the school is required to identify where those students have gone next. The information below is the current picture for those students who completed their 16–19 studies in July 2021. 

Destination Type	Number	Percentage
University	28	76%
Apprenticeship	7	16%
Unknown	7	8%

 

Concerns regarding Progress 8

Progress 8 (P8) shows the amount of progress children make from the end of Year 6 to the end of Year 11. However:

1. The attainment measure is heavily weighted (70:30) in favour of the traditional academic subjects.
2. Pupil background is not represented/adjusted to provide greater perspective. (This has a significant impact on Wexham’s P8 score)
3. Pupil mobility is not considered; holding schools to account for those they have taught before ‘on-rolling’ to another school. (This has a significant impact on Wexham’s P8 score)
4. The metric creates uncertain predictions as to the future performance of schools (for parents in particular).
5. That progress 8 accounts for only around a tenth of overall variation in pupil progress.
6. A handful of children can also significantly impact negatively on a school’s overall Progress 8 figure. (This has a significant impact on Wexham’s P8 score.)

Progress 8 fails to recognise that pupils growing up in poverty tend to make less progress – on average, almost half a grade lower in each GCSE subject. For schools with many disadvantaged pupils, this will push down their Progress 8 scores and will often push them below -0.5 (the boundary for being deemed ‘well below average’).

University of Bristol researchers produced an Alternative Progress 8 calculation. This considers poverty, gender, SEN, and ethnicity. This alternative calculation would result in a third of schools changing bands (e.g. from ‘below average’ to ‘average’). The number of schools targeted for intervention would fall by a third. Grammar schools and other schools with few disadvantaged or SEN pupils would benefit less than they do under Progress 8.

The report considers the Government’s argument that taking poverty into account would ‘lower expectations’. The authors argue that punishing schools for teaching disadvantaged pupils is likely to incentivise schools to avoid admitting pupil groups (e.g., children with special educational needs), and where they are admitted, to find ways to exclude them before their GCSEs. Consequently, Progress 8 calculations are likely to leave many disadvantaged pupils and their schools feeling as if they have failed when they have not.

Explanation of Wexham School’s Progress 8 score based on 2022 results, which essentially mirror 2019 and 2023.

The school's progress score was -0.59. By far the biggest impact on Wexham's score is due to on rolling students. Not including the 15 most negative individual scores (just 15), the school’s P8 score moves to -0.24, firmly in the government’s average category, which for an inclusive school in a fully selective area would be quite remarkable. Most of these children were admitted to Wexham during their secondary education from other schools, the majority in Year 9 and beyond. Progress 8 makes no reflection on a child that spent only four months of their education at Wexham yet sat their examinations with us. Or a child that had been in four other secondary schools for their education. Nor does P8 reflect that 20% of students do not count, no matter how well they have done in their examinations, because they did not sit SATs at the end of Year 6. Nor does it reflect that children may have sat their SATs in Year 6 and then moved abroad for several years before returning to the UK.

We are proud of our students’ achievements. Many of the students that joined us during their secondary education achieve good results, stay on into our Sixth Form or go to college. Progress 8 does not reflect the hard work and dedication of the students and the school. All children need to be valued.

As Ofsted said in May 2023, ‘'Wexham School is a friendly and highly inclusive school. It welcomes pupils from a range of nationalities and backgrounds. Many pupils join the school for a fresh start after struggling in other secondary schools.’'.