Added section on "Attainment in Multi-academy trusts"
Planned updated with revised data and progress measures.
This publication provides revised attainment and progress statistics for key stage 2 national curriculum assessments in England. It is an update to the provisional statistics published on 12 September 2023 and extends the Key stage 2: National headlines statistics published on 11 July 2023. Progress measures of pupils between key stage 1 and key stage 2 are included.
These statistics cover attainment in assessments taken by pupils at the end of year 6, when most are age 11.
It includes results for pupils in schools in England:
Some of these breakdowns are not discussed in the text but can be accessed via the table tool or by downloading the data files.
All gaps and percentage point differences are calculated from unrounded figures.
These statistics cover the attainment of year 6 pupils who took assessments in summer 2023. These pupils experienced disruption to their learning during the pandemic, particularly at the end of year 3 and in year 4.
In individual subjects, attainment increased in maths, writing and science compared to 2022. Attainment remained the same in grammar, punctuation and spelling and fell in reading.
In reading, 73% of pupils met the expected standard, down from 75% in 2022.
In maths, 73% of pupils met the expected standard, up from 71% in 2022.
In writing teacher assessment, 71% of pupils met the expected standard, up from 69% in 2022.
In grammar, punctuation and spelling, 72% of pupils met the expected standard, unchanged from 2022.
In science teacher assessment, 80% of pupils met the expected standard, up from 79% in 2022.
In all of reading, writing and maths (combined), 60% of pupils met the expected standard, up from 59% in 2022. At the higher standard, 8% of pupils met the standard, up from 7% in 2022.
Girls made more progress than boys in reading and writing, while boys made more progress in maths.
In 2023, girls made the most progress in reading (with a progress score of 0.29) and writing (with a progress score of 0.87) and less progress in maths (with progress score of -0.77). In contrast, boys made less progress in reading (with progress score of -0.21), and writing (with progress score of -0.76) and the most progress in maths (with progress score of 0.82).
The disadvantaged gap index is down from 3.23 in 2022 to 3.21 in 2023. More detail is provided in the pupil characteristics section.
View tables that we have built for you, or create your own tables from open data using our table tool
Browse and download open data files from this release in our data catalogue
Learn more about the data files used in this release using our online guidance
Download all data available in this release as a compressed ZIP file
All supporting files from this release are listed for individual download below:
Matrices showing the number of pupils with each key stage 2 outcome, by prior attainment group in 2023 (England, state-funded schools).
The Department for Education considers meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths to be key for success in secondary school and beyond. Therefore, we report on the proportion of pupils who meet the expected standard in all three of these subjects.
In 2023, 60% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (combined), up from 59% in 2022. This is below 2019 attainment, where 65% of pupils met the standard. For the higher standard in reading, writing and maths (combined) 8% of pupils met the standard, up from 7% in 2022. Before the pandemic, this figure had risen from 5% to 11% between 2016 and 2019.
Attainment in reading, writing and maths combined is not directly comparable to some earlier years (2016 and 2017) because of changes to writing teacher assessment frameworks in 2018.
Last year, the Department announced a Levelling Up mission (opens in a new tab) for 90% of pupils to meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (combined) at the end of key stage 2 by 2030.
In reading, 73% of pupils met the expected standard in 2023, down from 75% in 2022. This figure has fluctuated between 72% and 75% since 2017.
In writing teacher assessment, 71% of pupils met the expected standard in 2023, up from 69% in 2022. Before the pandemic, in both 2018 and 2019, this figure was 78%. Attainment in writing is not directly comparable to some earlier years (2016 and 2017) because of changes to writing teacher assessment frameworks in 2018.
In maths, 73% of pupils met the expected standard, up from 71% in 2022. Before the pandemic, this figure increased from 70% to 79% between 2016 and 2019.
Attainment amongst reading, writing and maths was lowest in writing, as in previous years (with the exception of 2018 where attainment in reading was the same as maths).
In grammar, punctuation and spelling, 72% of pupils met the expected standard in 2023. This remains the same as 2022, where it was the lowest figure since new assessments were introduced in 2016.
In science teacher assessment, 80% of pupils met the expected standard in 2023, up from 79% in 2022. Before the pandemic in 2019, this figure was 83%. Attainment in science is not directly comparable to some earlier years (2016, 2017 and 2018) because of changes to science teacher assessment frameworks in 2019.
In reading, 29% of pupils met the higher standard, up from 28% in 2022. This is the highest this figure has been since the first assessments using the new national curriculum in 2016.
In writing teacher assessment, 13% of pupils met the higher standard, unchanged from 2022. Before the pandemic, in both 2018 and 2019, this figure was 20%. Attainment in writing is not directly comparable to some earlier years (2016 and 2017) because of changes to writing teacher assessment frameworks in 2018.
In maths, 24% of pupils met the higher standard, up from 23% in 2022. Before the pandemic, this figure had risen from 17% to 27% between 2016 and 2019.
Among reading, writing and maths, attainment at the higher standard is highest in reading. From 2016 to 2018, reading was also highest. In 2019, reading and maths were highest at 27%. Attainment of the higher standard in these three subjects remains lowest in writing.
In grammar, punctuation and spelling, 30% of pupils met the higher standard, up from 28% in 2022. Before the pandemic, this figure had risen from 23% to 36% between 2016 and 2019.
There is no higher standard for science.
We use scaled scores (opens in a new tab) to report the results of tests so we can make accurate comparisons of performance over time. Scaled scores range from 80 to 120. The total number of marks a pupil achieves in each test subject (raw score) is converted into a scaled score to ensure accurate comparisons can be made over time, even if the difficulty of the test itself varies.
The average scaled scores in reading, maths and grammar, punctuation and spelling tests have remained the same as 2022.
In reading, the average scaled score is 105.
In maths, the average scaled score is 104.
In grammar, punctuation and spelling, the average scaled score is 105.
The average scaled score is the mean scaled score of all pupils awarded a scaled score. It only includes pupils who took the test and achieved a scaled score. It gives us a measure of the typical performance of a pupil taking the tests. It is affected by the performance of pupils at all points in the range of scores. By contrast, the percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard focuses on the proportion of pupils above or below one particular score (100). As a consequence, changes in one measure may not be matched by changes in the other measure of the same size and direction.
This section looks at key stage 2 attainment in reading and writing by prior attainment in the phonics screening check. Pupils with an eligible KS2 reading test result and either a valid year 1 or year 2 phonics record are included in the key stage 2 reading by prior attainment. Pupils with an eligible writing teacher assessment result and either a valid year 1 or year 2 phonics record are included in the key stage 2 writing by prior attainment.
94% of pupils with an eligible KS2 result successfully matched to either a valid year 1 or year 2 phonics record.
Pupils who performed well in the phonics screening check went on to do well in the key stage 2 reading test. In 2023, 83% of pupils who met the phonics standard in year 1 in 2018 met the expected standard in reading at the end of key stage 2, down from 85% in 2022 and 2019. Of those pupils who met the expected standard in phonics by the end of year 2 in 2019, but not in year 1, 50% went on to meet the expected standard in reading at the end of key stage 2. This was down from 51% in 2022 and 56% in 2019. Of those pupils who did not meet the phonics standard by the end of year 2 in 2023, 18% met the expected standard in reading at the end of key stage 2, which is unchanged from 2022 but down from 23% in 2019.
Similar to last year, pupils who performed well in the phonics screening check went on to do well in the key stage 2 writing teacher assessment. In 2023, 83% of pupils who met the phonics standard in year 1 in 2018 met the expected standard in writing at the end of KS2. This was up from 81% in 2022, but down from 91% in 2019. Of those pupils who met the expected standard in phonics by the end of year 2 in 2019, but not in year 1, 41% went on to meet the expected standard in writing at the end of KS2. This was up from 38% in 2022 but down from 62% in 2019. Of those pupils who did not meet the phonics standard by the end of year 2 in 2023, 12% went on to meet the expected standard in writing at the end of KS2. This was up from 11% in 2022 but down from 23% in 2019.
We have moved our transition matrices tool into a look up table to make it more accessible. The file is available in the supporting files section of this publication. For guidance on how to use the file, please see the annex F in the methodology section.
Transition matrices show key stage 2 pupil outcome distributions in reading, writing, and maths for 2023, by prior attainment group.
Key stage 2 2023 transition matrices are available as a single data file in the supporting files section.
The progress measures aim to capture the progress that pupils make from the end of Key Stage 1 to the end of primary school. They are a type of value-added measure, which means that pupils’ results are compared to the actual achievements of other pupils nationally with similar prior attainment.
Individual pupil-level progress scores are calculated in comparison to other pupils nationally. For all state-funded pupils nationally, the average progress score will be zero.
A characteristic's progress score for English reading, English writing and maths is calculated as the average progress score for all pupils with that characteristic. This means that progress scores are presented as positive and negative numbers either side of zero.
- A score of zero means pupils with this characteristic, on average, did about as well at KS2 as other pupils with similar prior attainment nationally.
- A positive score means pupils with this characteristic, on average, did better at KS2 than other pupils with similar prior attainment nationally.
- A negative score means pupils with this characteristic, on average, did not make as much progress by the end of KS2 as other pupils with similar prior attainment nationally. A negative progress score does not mean pupils made no progress, rather it means pupils with that characteristic made less progress than other pupils across England with similar results at the end of KS1.
This section looks at key stage 2 attainment and progress by gender, disadvantage, special educational need (SEN) status, first language, ethnicity and month of birth.
The figures for disadvantaged pupils first shown in this publication in September were provisional and did not include pupils in the care of a local authority unless they were eligible for free school meals during the last 6 years or ceased to be looked-after in the last year.
Numbers referred to in brackets are progress scores.
Girls continue to outperform boys at the expected standard in all subjects in 2023, except for maths where boys performed slightly better (1 percentage point difference). In reading, 76% of girls met the expected standard down from 80% in 2022, whilst 70% of boys met the expected standard, unchanged from 2022.
The biggest attainment gap between boys and girls remains in the writing teacher assessment at 13 percentage points.
In reading, writing and maths (combined) in 2023, 63% of girls met the expected standard compared to 56% of boys, a gap of 7 percentage points, down from 9 percentage points in 2022. This narrowing of the gender gap is due to an increase in attainment in reading, writing and maths (combined) for boys, and a slight decrease in attainment (when comparing unrounded data) in this combined measure for girls.
Among individual subjects at the higher standard, the gender gap has fallen in reading from 10 percentage points in 2022 to 5 percentage points in 2023. This is due to boys attainment increasing by 4 percentage points, whilst girls attainment fell by 2 percentage points. In maths, the gender gap increased from 5 percentage points in 2022 to 6 percentage points in 2023. This is due to boys attainment in maths at the higher standard increasing by 2 percentage points, whilst girls attainment at the higher standard increased by 1 percentage point. In writing, the attainment for both boys and girls increased, however, the gender gap decreased by 1 percentage point.
In 2023, 9% of girls met the higher standard in reading, writing and maths (combined), unchanged 2022 but down from 13% in 2019. Among boys, 7% met the higher standard, up from 6% in 2022 but down from 9% in 2019. This means in 2023, there is a gender gap of 2 percentage points at the higher standard, down from 3 percentage points in 2022.
Progress made between key stage 1 and key stage 2 showed a similar pattern to attainment, with girls making more progress relative to boys in reading and writing. Boys made more progress in maths.
In 2023, girls made more progress in reading (0.29) and writing (0.87) and less progress in maths (-0.77). In contrast, boys made less progress in reading (-0.21), and writing (-0.76) and the more progress in maths (0.82).
The disadvantage gap index summarises the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and all other pupils.
The gap index is more resilient to changes to assessment than attainment threshold measures and therefore offers greater comparability between years. The index ranks all pupils in the country and assesses the difference in the average position of disadvantaged pupils and others. A disadvantage gap of zero would indicate that there is no difference between the average performance of disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils. We measure whether the disadvantage gap is getting larger or smaller over time. See the methodology for further information.
The disadvantage gap index has reduced from 3.23 in 2022 to 3.21 in 2023.
The 2023 statistics are now based on revised data. The figures first shown in this publication in September were provisional and did not include pupils in the care of a local authority unless they were eligible for free school meals during the last 6 years or ceased to be looked-after in the last year.
The disadvantage gap index had reduced between 2011 and 2018 - indicating that the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers was becoming smaller - before remaining at a similar level between 2018 and 2019 and increasing in 2022 to the highest level since 2012.
Disadvantaged pupils are ordinarily defined as: those who were registered as eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years, children looked after by a local authority or have left local authority care in England and Wales through adoption, a special guardianship order, a residence order or a child arrangements order.
In 2023, 30% of pupils at the end of key stage 2 were considered disadvantaged.
In reading, writing and maths (combined), 44% of disadvantaged pupils met the expected standard in 2023 compared to 66% of other pupils, a difference of 22 percentage points. This is a decrease from 23 percentage points in 2022.
In 2023, 3% of disadvantaged pupils met the higher standard in reading, writing and maths (combined), unchanged from 2022. Among other pupils, 10% met the higher standard, up from 9% in 2022. This means that the attainment gap at the higher standard has slightly increased, from 6 percentage points in 2022 to 7 percentage points in 2023.
Attainment in reading has fallen compared to 2022 for both disadvantaged pupils and other pupils. Attainment had increased from 2019 to 2022 for non-disadvantaged pupils, whilst it has now decreased back to 2019 levels. For the disadvantaged group, attainment had remained the same between 2019 and 2022, and has fallen in 2023. Attainment in writing and maths has increased for both groups since 2022.
The disadvantage gap in 2023 compared to 2022 is similar across subjects, ranging from 18 percentage points in reading and science to 20 percentage points in maths.
Disadvantaged pupils made less progress in each of reading, writing and maths than all other pupils with similar prior attainment. Disadvantaged pupils made the least progress in maths (-1.04), whilst those pupils not known to be disadvantaged made most progress in maths (0.51).
In 2023, 20% of pupils at the end of key stage 2 had a special educational need (SEN). Pupils with SEN either have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or receive SEN support. In 2023, 5% of all pupils had an EHCP and 16% were on SEN support.
In 2023, 20% of pupils with SEN met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (combined), compared with 18% of pupils with SEN in 2022. Of those pupils on SEN support, 24% met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (combined), up from 21% in 2022, whilst 8% of those pupils with an Education, Health and Care plan met the standard, up from 7% in 2022.
Pupils with SEN made the least progress in writing (-2.18) and the most progress in reading (-1.42), though all subjects had negative progress scores. For those with a EHC plan, least progress was made in writing (-4.41) and the most progress was made in maths (-4.12). For those on SEN support, like the overall group, least progress was made in writing (-1.53) and most progress was made in reading (-0.58).
In 2023, 22% of pupils at the end of key stage 2 had a first language other than English.
In 2023, 60% of pupils with first language other than English met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (combined), down from 61% in 2022 and from 64% in 2019. Among pupils with English as their first language, 60% met the expected standard, up from 58% in 2022 but below 2019 attainment (65%).
Attainment in reading has fallen since 2022 for both pupils with English and a language other than English as their first language at the expected standard. Attainment for pupils with English as their first language fell from 75% in 2022 to 74% in 2023. Before the pandemic in 2019, this figure was also 74%. For pupils with a first language other than English attainment fell from 73% in 2022 to 70% in 2023. This figure was 70% in 2019. The gap in reading attainment between pupils with English as a first language and a first language other than English is now at 4 percentage points.
In both writing and maths, attainment has increased for both groups since 2022. In writing, attainment increased from 70% to 72% among pupils with English as their first language and from 70% to 71% among pupils with a first language other than English. In maths, attainment increased from 75% to 77% among pupils with English as their first language and from 71% to 72% among pupils with a first language other than English. Attainment for both groups in writing and maths remains below pre-pandemic levels.
At the higher standard, 9% of pupils with a first language other than English met the higher standard in reading, writing and maths (combined), up from 8% in 2022 but down from 11% in 2019. Among pupils with English as their first language, 8% achieved the higher standard in 2023, up from 7% in 2022 but below 2019 attainment (11%).
Pupils with a language other than English as their first language made more progress than their peers at a similar starting point in reading (0.57), writing (1.28) and maths (2.26). Pupils with English as their first language made less progress than their peers at a similar starting point in reading (-0.09), writing (-0.26) and maths (-0.50).
Attainment at the end of key stage 2 varies by ethnicity.
As in 2022, Indian pupils are the highest performing group in all of reading, writing and maths (73% of pupils met the expected standard). The second highest performing group is White and Asian pupils (70%), a change from 2022 when this was Chinese pupils, who were the third highest performing group in 2023 (69%).
Gypsy/Roma pupils are the lowest performing group (18% met the expected standard in all of reading, writing and maths), followed by Traveller of Irish heritage pupils (21%).
Following feedback from users, the Office for National Statistics updated their guidelines on ethnic groups (opens in a new tab). We have therefore included Chinese pupils in the Asian ethnic group in this publication since 2022. This was a change from previous years when Chinese pupils were reported separately. This change has been backdated to 2016 to allow comparisons over time. Figures for Chinese pupils only are still available via the table tool (within subject 'Key stage 2 attainment by pupil characteristics') and the data file ‘ks2_national_pupil_characteristics_2016_to_2023_revised.csv.’
Chinese pupils made the most progress in reading (1.72), writing (1.87) and maths (5.25). Gypsy/Roma pupils made the least progress in reading (-1.59), whilst Traveller of Irish heritage pupils made the least progress in writing (-1.61) and maths (-2.34).
In 2023, pupils born in September and October were the highest achieving group in all of reading, writing and maths (combined), 66% of these two groups met the expected standard, unchanged from 2022 for September born and up from 65% in 2022 for October born.
Pupils born in August were the lowest achieving group, 53% of this group met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (combined), up from 51% in 2022.
Among the individual subjects of reading, writing and maths, pupils born in September and October were also the highest achieving, whilst pupils born in August were the lowest achieving.
Pupils born in August made the most progress in reading (0.54), writing (0.49) and maths (0.78). Pupils born in September made the least progress in reading (-0.42), writing (-0.29) and maths (-0.52). This follows a similar pattern to progress in previous years and suggests that month of birth has a reduced effect on attainment over time.
The progress measures aim to capture the progress that pupils make from the end of Key Stage 1 to the end of primary school. They are a type of value-added measure, which means that pupils’ results are compared to the actual achievements of other pupils nationally with similar prior attainment.
Individual pupil-level progress scores are calculated in comparison to other pupils nationally. For all state-funded pupils nationally, the average progress score will be zero.
A school type's progress score for English reading, English writing and maths is calculated as the average progress score for all pupils within that school type. This means that progress scores are presented as positive and negative numbers either side of zero.
- A score of zero means pupils in these schools, on average, did about as well at KS2 as other pupils with similar prior attainment nationally.
- A positive score means pupils in these schools, on average, did better at KS2 than other pupils with similar prior attainment nationally.
- A negative score means pupils in these schools, on average, did not make as much progress by the end of KS2 as other pupils with similar prior attainment nationally. A negative progress score does not mean pupils made no progress, rather it means pupils in these schools made less progress than other pupils across England with similar results at the end of KS1.
There were 15,372 state-funded mainstream primary schools with key stage 2 results in 2023.
Since 2016, there have been substantial changes to the makeup of school types in England. The proportion of LA maintained schools decreased from 82% in 2016 to 59% in 2023. There have been corresponding increases in the proportion of sponsored and converter academies to 11% and 29% respectively. It should be noted that the conversion of schools from one type to another means that the headline figures capture not only change in performance but also change in school type. While the number of free schools has increased to 203, free schools make up a very small proportion of schools, therefore progress and attainment scores may fluctuate more each year compared to other school types.
Numbers referred to in brackets are progress scores.
See the accompanying methodology for details about different types of school.
Attainment in academies and free schools as a group in 2023 is broadly similar to those in local authority maintained mainstream schools. Converter academies had broadly similar proportions of pupils achieving the expected standard than the averages for all state-funded mainstream schools, as in 2022. Sponsored academies as a group, however, are below the average for state-funded mainstream schools but were typically low performing before their conversion to academy status.
Pupils in free schools made more progress between key stage 1 and key stage 2 in reading, writing and maths than pupils with similar prior attainment in other types of schools.
Pupils in sponsored academies made the least progress in reading and maths, and pupils in LA maintained schools made the least progress in writing, when compared to pupils with similar prior attainment in other types of schools.
Pupils in converter academies made less progress in writing (0.21) than sponsored academies (0.24), a change seen in 2023.
The progress measures aim to capture the progress that pupils make from the end of Key Stage 1 to the end of primary school. They are a type of value-added measure, which means that pupils’ results are compared to the actual achievements of other pupils nationally with similar prior attainment.
Individual pupil-level progress scores are calculated in comparison to other pupils nationally. For all state-funded pupils nationally, the average progress score will be zero.
A local authority/region's progress score for English reading, English writing and maths is calculated as the average progress score for all pupils within that school type. This means that progress scores are presented as positive and negative numbers either side of zero.
- A score of zero means pupils in this local authority/region, on average, did about as well at KS2 as other pupils with similar prior attainment nationally.
- A positive score means pupils in this local authority/region, on average, did better at KS2 than other pupils with similar prior attainment nationally.
- A negative score means pupils in this local authority/region, on average, did not make as much progress by the end of KS2 as other pupils with similar prior attainment nationally. A negative progress score does not mean pupils made no progress, rather it means pupils in this local authority/region made less progress than other pupils across England with similar results at the end of KS1.
Attainment at the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (combined) increased in every region from 2022 to 2023, except for the South West where it remained stable. East of England has the highest percentage point increase of 1.3pp, and was the lowest performing region in 2022.
London was the highest performing region in 2023, as in previous years, with 67% of pupils achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (combined). In all other regions, attainment in reading, writing and maths (combined) at the expected standard ranged between 57% and 61%.
The gap between the highest (London) and lowest (South West ) performing regions in 2023 was 10 percentage points. In 2022, the gap between the highest and lowest performing regions was 9 percentage points.
Attainment at the higher standard in reading, writing and maths (combined) was also higher in London than in all other regions, with 12% of pupils in London achieving the higher standard compared to 7% or 8% in all other regions. This is similar to the pattern seen in 2022, where London was the highest region (11%), with other regions achieving 6% or 7% in reading, writing and maths (combined) at the higher standard.
Numbers referred to in brackets are progress scores.
Pupils making progress between key stage 1 and key stage 2 was highest in London for each of reading (0.70), writing (0.99) and maths (1.37) in 2023. Whereas progress in reading (-0.26) was lowest in Yorkshire and The Humber and writing (-0.42) and maths (-0.69) was lowest in the South West.
The map below shows the percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (combined) by local authority. This map reveals a complex picture of attainment across England, with a range of high and low attainment in different regions.
Attainment at the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (combined) was highest in Richmond upon Thames (74%), Hammersmith and Fulham (74%) and Kensington and Chelsea (74%) and lowest in Portsmouth (49%). Similarly, attainment at the higher standard, was highest in Richmond upon Thames (18%) followed closely by Hammersmith and Fulham (17%) and Sutton (17%) and lowest in Bedford (3%), Portsmouth (3%) and Blackpool (3%).
Progress was highest in reading (1.97) and writing (2.06) in Hammersmith and Fulham and highest in maths in Harrow (2.69). Progress was lowest in reading in Portsmouth (-1.48), lowest in writing (-2.14) and maths (-1.85) in Central Bedfordshire.
Progress data for each local authority can be found in the underlying data, which can be found by clicking on ‘explore data’ at the top of the publication.
Local authorities with only 1 school are excluded from the above narrative.
The chart below shows how the distribution of attainment at school level has changed since 2019. In 2019, more schools had a high proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (combined) i.e., the 2022 and 2023 distribution has shifted to the left. In 2023, there is higher number of schools with over 50% of their pupils meeting the expected standard. This can be seen in the gap between the 2023 and 2022 distribution.
Note that the below chart uses smoothed lines.
This section focuses on the attainment and progress of pupils who attended schools that were in multi-academy trusts (MATs) in England. Following a review of last year’s release, this section (and the equivalent in the Key stage 4 performance and A level and other 16 to 18 results statistical releases) replace the standalone release on attainment in MATs. We would welcome any feedback on how we can best present national data on the academies sector in future, or an any other aspect of this release at Attainment.STATISTICS@education.gov.uk.
Multi-academy trusts (MATs) can comprise converter academies, sponsored academies and free schools:
Due to the different historic performance of schools that become sponsored or converter academies and those which remain LA maintained, simple comparisons between the whole MAT sector and other state-funded schools will not be meaningful and are not made in this publication.
Further, caution should be taken when comparing national MAT statistics across years as the composition of the academies and MATs included continues to vary, as the sector matures.
The measures cover state-funded mainstream schools within MATs only. Special schools, pupil referral units, alternative provision academies and alternative provision free schools are not included.
In MAT performance tables data, accountability measures are only produced at key stage 2 for MATs:
We do this so that we include data at MAT level for MATs that are sufficiently well established to have had time to a) have an impact on the performance of schools within the MAT and b) so that aggregate data tells you more than the individual institution data would.
Performance tables data for eligible MATs can be found at the Compare school and college performance website (opens in a new tab).
The commentary in this section focuses on pupils in academies that meet the eligibility criteria, as this is the accountability measure for MATs; but figures are also provided for those in all other academies in MATs, as well as an all academies in MATs total, for wider context.
National performance in MATs
The data below shows that for academies meeting the eligibility criteria:
The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (combined) was the same for academies meeting the eligibility criteria and all other academies in MATs, with some slight variations in individual subjects.
This publication provides revised attainment statistics for key stage 2 national curriculum assessments. It provides statistics on:
Pupils who meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (combined) are those who meet the expected standard in all three subjects. The expected standard in reading and maths is a scaled score of 100 or above. The expected standard in writing is a teacher assessment of 'working at the expected standard' (EXS) or 'working at greater depth' (GDS).
Pupils who reach the higher standard in reading, writing and maths (combined) are those who achieve a scaled score of 110 or more in reading and maths and are assessed as 'working at greater depth' (GDS) in writing TA.
Pupils who meet the expected standard in reading are those who achieve a scaled score of 100 or above. Pupils who meet the higher standard in reading are those who achieve a scaled score of 110 or more.
Pupils who meet the expected standard in writing are those who achieve a teacher assessment of 'working at the expected standard' (EXS) or 'working at greater depth' (GDS).
Pupils who reach the higher standard (referred to as greater depth) in writing are those who are assessed as 'working at greater depth' (GDS).
Pupils who meet the expected standard in maths are those who achieve a scaled score of 100 or above. Pupils who meet the higher standard in maths are those who achieve a scaled score of 110 or more.
Pupils who meet the expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling are those who achieve a scaled score of 100 or above. Pupils who meet the higher standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling are those who achieve a scaled score of 110 or more.
Pupils who meet the expected standard in science are those who achieve a teacher assessment of 'working at the expected standard' (EXS) or 'working at greater depth' (GDS).
The progress measures aim to capture the progress that pupils make from the end of Key Stage 1 to the end of primary school. They are a type of value-added measure, which means that pupils’ results are compared to the actual achievements of other pupils nationally with similar prior attainment.
Progress scores are calculated for individual pupils for the sole purpose of constructing a school progress score. Pupil scores are calculated separately for English reading, English writing and mathematics. Pupils who do not have Key Stage 1 data for all of English reading, English writing and mathematics (for example, those who entered a school from another jurisdiction, or who were absent at the time of the Key stage 1 assessments), cannot be included in the progress measures.
Find out how and why we collect, process and publish these statistics.
These accredited official statistics have been independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.
Accreditation signifies their compliance with the authority's Code of Practice for Statistics which broadly means these statistics are:
Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR).
OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.
You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.
If you have a specific enquiry about Key stage 2 attainment statistics and data:
If you have a media enquiry:
Telephone: 020 7783 8300
If you have a general enquiry about the Department for Education (DfE) or education:
Telephone: 037 0000 2288
Opening times:
Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 5pm (excluding bank holidays)