New figures released today by the DfES show that secondary schools in Cumbria are outperforming national averages for all three Key Stage 3 subjects (English, maths and science).
- In science, 76% of Cumbrian KS3 pupils are achieving level 5+. This is a 3% improvement on last year's figures for Cumbria and puts the county's rate 4% higher than the national average.
- In maths, 78% of Cumbrian KS3 pupils are achieving level 5+. This is a 3% improvement on last year's figures for Cumbria and puts the county's rate 1% higher than the national average.
- In English, 75% of Cumbrian KS3 pupils are achieving level 5+. This is a 2% decrease on last year's figures, but nationally the English level 5+ percentage rate also fell (by 1%). Despite the decrease, the county's rate is still 1% higher than the national average.
At the higher benchmark of Level 6+, Cumbria has also outperformed the national average. Nationally, the proportion achieving Level 6+ in English fell by 1%; in Cumbria it increased by 2% to 35%, and now exceeds the national average by 1%. The maths Level 6+ results have increased by 4% to 59% and are 2% above national averages. Science Level 6+ results also increased by 4% to 45% and are 4% above national averages.
"These results show that we are continuing to improve and clearly delivering a better standard of education for 11 to 14 year olds than the national average. This is evidence that school children entering secondary education in this county are getting a better and better foundation in the core subjects that set them up for future learning and development. But we are not complacent, we are setting challenging targets for the future and are continually striving to aspire further in the coming year," said Councillor Philip Chappelhow, cabinet member responsible for children's services.
One school in Cumbria has been earmarked by the DfES as achieving a particularly outstanding level of progress. Samuel King's School in Alston has been ranked the 6th highest secondary school in the whole country in terms of its "improvement" in KS3 results between 2003 and 2006. The DfES has measured this improvement by calculating an aggregate of the percentage level 5+ for English, maths and science (ie all three percentages added together). Using this method, the figures for Samuel King's are as follows:
Total % Level 5+
Year (Eng, mat, sci combined)
2003 188%
2004 229%
2005 235%
2006 267%
Value Added analysis
As well as the KS3 performance figures, the DfES also produces value added figures which track and monitor pupils' progress. This is done by comparing the results of Key Stage 2 performance in 2003 with the performance of Key Stage 3 in 2006 - so the performance of pupils can be monitored as they progress through the education system.
The progress which each child makes is then compared to the national median rate of progress for pupils with similar levels of prior attainment at KS2.
- In 2006, the KS2 to KS3 value added figure for Cumbria was 99.7. This is a slight improvement on the figure for 2005 and 2004, which was 99.5 in both cases.
- The attached spreadsheet shows that, in 2006, over 40% of the county's 42 secondary schools were at or above the 'average' KS2 to KS3 value added score of 100. In 2005, the equivalent figure was 39.0%.
Ends
Media enquiries to Gareth Cosslett, News Manager on 01228 606332
Notes for editors
- Key stage 3 covers children aged 11-14 in school years 7, 8 and 9
Follow this link to view the attatched spreadsheet