Parents of primary school leavers heading off to secondary school face a series of tough choices, which can have a big impact on their child’s education going forward. The cost of many elite private schools rules them as an option for a lot of families. But there are also many excellent, no-fees state schools across England, including selective grammar schools in many areas that children can apply for a spot at The School Guide - an online evaluation resource for parents - has created a ranking of state secondary school’s across England, giving them a special ‘star rating’ out of five.
This rating takes into account a number of different academic achievement metrics, including the percentage of students who sat their GCSE exams who achieved at least five of them (including English and Maths), as well as the school’s A Level point score - the average score of all students who took A Levels that year. But it’s not just grades that determine whether a school is a good place to learn. Ofsted inspection ratings are also a factor in calculating a school’s star rating - which means inspectors found the quality of education provided, student behaviour and attitudes, school leadership and management, and student safeguarding all to be excellent.
It also includes student progress scores, to show how much progress pupils made between the end of Key Stage 2 through to Key Stages 3 and 5. School Guide says it uses only the latest, official government data when calculating sc.