Progress 8 and Attainment 8 Explained for Parents

Progress 8 and Attainment 8 are the two headline measures the government uses to judge secondary school performance in England at GCSE. Attainment 8 measures the average grade a school's pupils achieve across eight subjects; Progress 8 compares that attainment against what pupils with similar prior attainment achieved nationally.

What is Attainment 8?

Attainment 8 is an absolute measure. It calculates each pupil's average GCSE grade across a specific basket of eight qualifications, converts those grades to points, and adds them up. A school's Attainment 8 score is the average across all its pupils.

The eight slots are filled according to strict rules:

Slot | Subject(s) | How it counts
English | English Language or English Literature (best grade counts; the other counts in the open element if taken) | Double-weighted
Maths | Mathematics | Double-weighted
EBacc sciences | Two from: biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, combined science | Single-weighted each
EBacc humanities/languages | History, geography, or a modern/ancient foreign language | Single-weighted each
Open | Three further GCSEs or approved vocational qualifications | Single-weighted each

Grades are converted to points: grade 9 = 9 points, grade 8 = 8 points, and so on down to grade 1 = 1 point. Ungraded (U) = 0.

Because English and maths are double-weighted, a pupil's score in those two subjects has twice the impact of any other subject. The maximum Attainment 8 score a pupil can achieve is 90 points (if they score 9 in every slot, with the double-weighting applied).

What is Progress 8?

Progress 8 is a relative measure. It asks: given what these pupils achieved at the end of primary school (their KS2 results), how much progress did they make by the end of Year 11 compared to similar pupils nationally?

The DfE calculates a national expected Attainment 8 score for every KS2 result. Each school's Progress 8 score is the average difference between its pupils' actual Attainment 8 scores and those national expectations.

A Progress 8 score of 0 means the school's pupils made the same progress as the national average for their starting point.

A score above 0 (e.g. +0.5) means pupils made more progress than expected.

A score below 0 (e.g. −0.5) means pupils made less progress than expected.

Progress 8 is designed to measure what schools add, not just the prior attainment of the pupils they admit. A selective grammar school that admits high-achieving pupils but shows a negative Progress 8 score may be underperforming relative to its intake, while a comprehensive with a lower Attainment 8 but a strong positive Progress 8 is adding substantial value.

Why do both measures exist?

Each measure captures something the other misses.

Measure | What it tells you | What it misses
Attainment 8 | The average grade level achieved at this school | Whether it reflects intake or teaching
Progress 8 | How much the school adds beyond expectations | Not visible without knowing KS2 context

For parents, Attainment 8 gives you a sense of what grades tend to come out of the school. Progress 8 tells you whether the school is adding value relative to its pupils' starting points. Both together give a more complete picture than either alone.

How do I find my school's scores?

The DfE publishes official Performance Tables online each January (covering the previous summer's results). You can search by school name or postcode at the DfE's Compare School Performance service (compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk). The tables show Attainment 8, Progress 8 and a confidence interval for each school, so you can see how reliable the estimate is.

Ofsted inspectors also reference both measures in school reports, particularly Progress 8, which feeds into their judgement on Quality of Education.

What is a "good" Progress 8 score?

The national average is always close to 0 by design. The DfE also publishes confidence intervals around each school's score to reflect that progress scores fluctuate year to year, especially in smaller schools.

As a rough guide:

Progress 8 score | What it suggests
Above +0.5 | Well above average — strong value-added
+0.1 to +0.5 | Above average
−0.1 to +0.1 | Around the national average
−0.1 to −0.5 | Below average
Below −0.5 | Well below average — DfE may flag the school for review

The DfE uses −0.5 as a trigger point: schools consistently below this threshold may be subject to intervention. However, a single year's score can shift considerably — look at the three-year trend where available, not just the most recent figure.

How does this affect my child personally?

Attainment 8 and Progress 8 are school-level measures — they describe the average across all pupils, not any individual. Your child's outcome will depend on their own effort, prior attainment, subject choices and the support they receive.

However, the measures are useful for school choice. A school with a strongly positive Progress 8 score is generally good at helping pupils achieve more than expected regardless of their starting point. A school with high Attainment 8 but a flat or negative Progress 8 may be benefiting from a high-attaining intake rather than particularly effective teaching.

For GCSE pupils already in a school, understanding these measures helps parents interpret their child's target grades, which schools often set based on national expected progress from KS2.

Frequently asked questions

Do these measures apply to all schools in England?

Progress 8 and Attainment 8 apply to state-funded schools in England. Independent schools are not included in the DfE Performance Tables. Academy schools and free schools are included. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland use different accountability frameworks.

Why is English double-weighted in Attainment 8?

The DfE double-weights English and maths because these subjects are considered foundational — they underpin progress in all other subjects and are the primary benchmarks used by employers, sixth forms and universities. Double-weighting means a strong grade in English or maths has twice the impact on the overall score, incentivising schools to prioritise these subjects.

Can my child's school have a high Attainment 8 but a low Progress 8?

Yes, and this is important to understand. A selective or grammar school that admits pupils with very high KS2 attainment may show a high Attainment 8 — because its pupils were already high-achieving — but a modest or even negative Progress 8 if those pupils did not make more progress than expected. The two measures are designed to complement each other.

What happens to schools with very low Progress 8 scores?

Schools that consistently show a Progress 8 score below −0.5, or that receive an Inadequate Ofsted judgement, may be placed into special measures or required to convert to an academy under a stronger sponsor. The DfE's intervention process takes into account multi-year trends rather than single-year dips, which can result from cohort effects, staff changes or external factors.

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