17 Oct Essex above national average in new GCSE
Essex County Council is congratulating secondary schools after the county’s performance under the Government’s new GCSE measures was published for the first time.
About 15,000 young people were entered into GCSEs at schools in Essex this year.
Provisional figures show the percentage of the county’s pupils who achieved A* to C grades in both English and maths has risen from 61 per cent in 2015 to 64 per cent in 2016. The figure is above the national average of 63 per cent, and means Essex is currently ranked 59th out of all 151 local authorities.
Today is the first time the county’s performance under the new Progress 8 (average of all students’ progress across eight subjects between Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4) and Attainment 8 (school’s average grade across the same set of eight subjects) measures has been revealed.
The measures aim to focus on pupil progress rather than just exam results and data released by the Department for Education shows that progress made by young people in the county is in line with the national average.
The average attainment score across eight subjects is 50.3, which is above the national average of 49.9 and means Essex’s ranking has risen from 74th to 58th of all 151 local authorities.
Cllr Ray Gooding, Essex County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, said: “I am delighted to see the county’s secondary schools continuing to perform exceptionally well.
“We recognise that the introduction of new GCSE measures has presented schools with an additional challenge and I am proud of what teachers and pupils in Essex have achieved.
“As a council, we remain committed to ensuring pupils receive the best possible education and we look forward to continuing to work closely with schools in the future.”
