Of pupils at the end of key stage 4 attending maintained mainstream schools, in 2008,
(a) 6,222 attended one of the very top performing schools with fewer than 1 per cent. of pupils achieving fewer than five GCSEs at grades A*-C or the equivalent including English and mathematics.
(b) 19,536 attended a school with fewer than 5 per cent. of pupils achieving fewer than five GCSEs at grades A*-C or the equivalent including English and mathematics.
(c) 23,733 attended a school with fewer than 10 per cent. of pupils achieving fewer than five GCSEs at grades A*-C or the equivalent including English and mathematics.
Only those schools published in the 2008 Achievement and Attainment Tables have been included in this analysis.
Information on the number of children who achieve five GCSEs at grades A* to C including English and mathematics is not available from the OC2 return, which is the current source of data on the attainment of looked after children. The OC2 return is due to be superseded by a new data source which will be used to monitor the attainment of looked after children from 2010.
In November the Department published analysis of the new data source as experimental statistics in the release, “Bridging Series for Outcomes for Looked After Children: Comparison of Data from Matched Administrative Source with Current Aggregate Source”:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/STR/d000894/index.shtml
Information from the new data source is available from 2006 and is shown in the table.
Figures based on matched CLA-NPD data source—Financial Cohort2 Children achieving 5+ GCSEs5 at grades A*- C including English and mathematics Number of children3,4 Number Percentage 2006 4,900 300 6.1 2007 4,900 320 6.6 2008 5,000 400 8.1 2009 5,000 440 8.9 1 Children looked after continuously for at least 12 months excluding children in respite care. 2 Children looked after continuously for at least 12 months at 31 March. 3 All numbers less than 1,000 are rounded to the nearest 10, otherwise they are rounded to the nearest 100. 4 Number of children based on those children aged 15 at the start of the academic year i.e. 31 August. 5 Includes results in GCSEs and GNVQs only, excludes equivalencies.
These figures are experimental statistics and should be treated with caution. They have been released to allow readers to comment on the new data source and methodology before being adopted fully as official statistics.