Data set from Key stage 4 performance

KS4 subject timeseries data

Not the latest data

Published 4 November 2021

Last updated 4 November 2021

National level time series from 2009/10 to the latest year for entries into individual GCSE subjects broken down by gender and grades received in all schools.

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Data set details

• Theme: School and college outcomes and performance
• Publication: Key stage 4 performance
• Release: Academic year 2020/21
• Geographic levels: National
• Indicators:
  • The number of pupils entering each exam
  • The percentage of pupils achieving a grade 1
  • The percentage of pupils achieving a grade 11
• Filters:
  • Gender
  • The subject pupils are entered for
• Time period: 2009/10 to 2020/21

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Data set preview

Table showing first 5 rows, from underlying data

time_period	time_identifier	geographic_level	country_code	country_name	version	characteristic_gender	subject	entries	91AstarG	94AstarC	97AstarA	9to5	grade9	grade8	grade7	grade6	grade5	grade4	grade3	grade2	grade1	grade99	grade98	grade88	grade87	grade77	grade76	grade66	grade65	grade55	grade54	grade44	grade43	grade33	grade32	grade22	grade21	grade11	gradeAstar	gradeA	gradeB	gradeC	gradeD	gradeE	gradeF	gradeG
202021	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	Revised	Total	All Subjects	4532533	98.9	80.2	31.6	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:
202021	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	Revised	Boys	All Subjects	2261168	98.7	76.7	26.9	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:
202021	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	Revised	Girls	All Subjects	2271365	99.1	83.7	36.3	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:	:
202021	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	Revised	Total	Ancient History	1081	97.9	85	49.4	75.7	18.3	16.2	14.9	14.8	11.5	9.3	6.6	3.8	2.5	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z
202021	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	Revised	Boys	Ancient History	611	97.5	86.6	54.2	78.6	22.6	17.2	14.4	15.2	9.2	8	5.4	3.4	2.1	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z

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Variables in this data set

Table showing first 5 of 41 variables

Variable name	Variable description
91AstarG	The percentage of pupils achieving a grade A*-G/9-1
94AstarC	The percentage of pupils achieving a grade A*-C/9-4
97AstarA	The percentage of pupils achieving a grade A*-A/9-7
9to5	The percentage of pupils achieving a grade 9-5
characteristic_gender	Gender

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Footnotes

1. Total number of entries include pupils who were absent, whose results are pending and results which are ungraded or unclassified.
2. All schools include state-funded schools, independent schools, independent special schools, non-maintained special schools, hospital schools, pupil referral units and alternative provision. Alternative provision includes academy and free school alternative provision. Since September 2013, general further education colleges and sixth-form colleges have been able to directly enrol 14 to 16 year-olds. 2014/15 was the first year in which colleges have pupils at the end of key stage 4. From 2016 onwards, entries and achievements for these pupils are included in figures as state-funded schools.
3. Some zero percentages may represent small numbers due to rounding.
4. z = When an observation is not applicable
5. In 2014/15, the early entry policy where only a pupil’s first attempt at a qualification is counted in performance measures was extended to all subjects. For the summer 2020/21 results, if a pupil takes the same subject twice in summer 2021 then their best result will count. However, if they take the same subject twice across years then only the first attempt counts - regardless of the grade received.
6. : = When data is unavailable for other reasons
7. Figures include attempts and achievements by these pupils in previous academic years where only the best grade in each individual subject is counted per pupil. Where subjects have been combined into a group (e.g. Other Modern Languages) and a pupil has two or more entries, each result in each subject is counted.
8. In 2017, new reformed GCSEs (which use the 9-1 grade scale) were introduced into secondary school performance tables in a phased approach. Unreformed subjects continued to be graded using the A* to G system. Information on how the 9 to 1 scale and the A* to G scale are different and not directly comparable is available in the secondary accountability measures guidance. In 2020 and 2021, all GCSEs are now reformed and use the 9-1 grading scale.
9. c = a cell that has been suppressed due to low number of pupils. Suppression was applied where deemed necessary for all data up to 2018/19. For 2019/20, DfE suppression policy changed. For 2020 and 2021 results where a geographical area contains only one school (for example Isles of Scilly) the data for that area has been suppressed. This is in line with the announcement that school level data would not be published using either summer 2020 or summer 2021 exam grades awarded.
10. Discounting has been applied where pupils have taken the same subject more than once. In 2020/21, only one entry per subject is counted and we count the entry with the highest grade for results received in summer 2021. Previously only the first entry grade would count and this is still the case for any results received before summer 2021. Further information can be found in the secondary accountability guidance. Where pupils have already entered for an exam within the same subject in an earlier year, first entry rules are still being used. For more on the discounting methodology prior to 2020, read the Discounting and Early Entry Guidance at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/key-stage-4-qualifications-discount-codes-and-point-scores

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