How School League Tables Work in England: A Parent's Guide

The Department for Education publishes school performance tables each year covering every state-funded secondary school in England. These tables are widely consulted when choosing a school, but the headline numbers measure very different things — and a school near the top of one ranking is not always the best fit for every child.

What are the school performance tables?

The official school performance tables for England are published by the Department for Education (DfE) at the Find and Compare Schools in England service (compare.education.gov.uk). They are updated annually, usually in the autumn following the relevant GCSE examination series, and they cover every state-funded secondary school: academies, free schools, community schools, faith schools, grammar schools and sixth-form colleges.

Independent (fee-paying) schools are not included in the official DfE tables. They publish their own results separately through the Independent Schools Council (ISC) and individual school websites.

The tables are free to access and allow parents to search by school name, local authority area or postcode, making them a practical starting point when researching secondary school options.

What do the tables measure?

Performance tables include several distinct measures. Each captures something different and they are best read together rather than in isolation.

Measure | What it shows | Why it matters
Progress 8 | How much pupils progress from KS2 to KS4 relative to national peers with the same starting point | The fairest single measure of a school's academic impact
Attainment 8 | Average grade across a pupil's best 8 GCSE-equivalent qualifications | Reflects the overall level of GCSE grades achieved
EBacc entry rate | Percentage of pupils entered for the full English Baccalaureate subject combination | Indicates breadth of academic curriculum offered
English & Maths grade 4+ | Percentage achieving a standard pass in both subjects | Minimum literacy and numeracy baseline
English & Maths grade 5+ | Percentage achieving a strong pass in both subjects | A higher standard increasingly valued by employers and universities
Destinations | Percentage of pupils in education, employment or training after KS4 | Shows outcomes beyond exam results alone

What is Progress 8 and why is it important?

Progress 8 is widely regarded as the most meaningful single measure in the performance tables. Rather than simply reporting the grades pupils achieve, it measures how much progress they make during secondary school relative to pupils who had the same starting point at the end of primary school (Key Stage 2, typically age 11).

A Progress 8 score of 0 means pupils at that school made, on average, the same amount of progress as pupils nationally with similar KS2 results. A positive score — for example, +0.5 — means pupils progressed more than the national average. A negative score — for example, −0.3 — means they progressed less.

This distinction is important because it levels the playing field. A school in a disadvantaged area with a Progress 8 score of +0.4 may be doing far more for its pupils than a school in an affluent area with a score of −0.1, even if the latter school's raw GCSE grades appear higher on paper. Progress 8 gives parents a measure of the school's teaching quality, rather than just the starting ability of its intake.

Attainment 8 — the average grade across eight qualifications — is more intuitive in feel, but it strongly reflects the prior attainment and socioeconomic background of a school's intake. A high Attainment 8 score does not, by itself, mean the school added significant academic value.

What do the Ofsted grades mean alongside league table data?

Ofsted (the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills) inspects schools independently of the DfE performance tables. Ofsted grades are:

Outstanding

Good

Requires Improvement

Inadequate

An Ofsted grade reflects inspectors' judgements across a range of criteria including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and — for secondary schools — sixth-form provision. It is a qualitative judgement, not a data-derived score.

Ofsted grades and DfE performance table scores do not always tell the same story. A school can have a strong Progress 8 score but receive a "Requires Improvement" grade for leadership or pastoral care, and vice versa. Parents are well advised to look at both, along with the full Ofsted inspection report (available at reports.ofsted.gov.uk), rather than relying on the headline grade alone.

What league tables cannot tell you

Performance data, however carefully compiled, cannot capture several things that matter greatly to families:

School culture and ethos. Whether the environment feels safe, warm and aspirational is something only a school visit can reveal.

Breadth of the curriculum and enrichment offer. A school ranked highly on Progress 8 may offer a narrower range of subjects or extracurricular activities than one ranked lower.

Pastoral care and SEND support. Data tells you nothing about how a school responds when a child is struggling emotionally, socially or with a learning need.

Class size and teaching quality in specific departments. Averages conceal wide variation within a school.

Fit for your particular child. A grammar school near the top of the attainment tables may not be the right environment for a creative, less exam-focused learner.

A school with a Progress 8 score slightly below average may still be the best choice for your child if the culture, location, SEND provision or subject range is the right match for their needs and personality.

How to use performance data wisely when choosing a school

The most effective approach is to treat league table data as a filter, not a verdict.

Begin by using compare.education.gov.uk to identify schools in your area and compare their Progress 8 and Attainment 8 scores. Look at whether the figures have improved or declined over the past three years, since a single year's data can be affected by cohort variation or examination anomalies.

Cross-reference with the Ofsted report. Read the full document, not just the headline grade. Pay attention to what inspectors say about the quality of education, behaviour, and how the school supports different types of learner.

Then visit. Open evenings and school tours reveal things no spreadsheet can: the tone of interactions between staff and pupils, how reception staff handle your questions, and whether the school feels purposeful and cared for.

Finally, speak to other parents in the area. Local knowledge — including which schools are improving rapidly and which are coasting on a historical reputation — is invaluable context that tables cannot provide.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I find the official school performance tables?

The DfE's official performance data is published at the Find and Compare Schools in England service: compare.education.gov.uk. The site is free to use and searchable by school name, postcode or local authority. Ofsted inspection reports are available separately at reports.ofsted.gov.uk.

Does a high Attainment 8 score mean a school is good?

Not necessarily. Attainment 8 measures average GCSE grade outcomes, which are strongly influenced by the prior attainment and social background of the school's pupil intake. A school that selects academically stronger pupils — or serves an affluent catchment area — will tend to have a high Attainment 8 score regardless of the quality of its teaching. Progress 8 is a more reliable indicator of the school's actual academic impact on its pupils.

What does a negative Progress 8 score mean?

A negative Progress 8 score means pupils at that school made, on average, less progress than pupils nationally who had the same starting point at the end of primary school. It does not mean pupils did badly in absolute terms — only that they progressed less than expected given where they started. A score of −0.5 or below is considered a significant concern and may attract scrutiny from the Regional Schools Commissioner. Scores between 0 and −0.3 are relatively common and should be read alongside the full picture of other performance indicators.

Are grammar schools and independent schools in the tables?

Grammar schools are state-funded and are included in the DfE performance tables. Their results tend to be high on both Progress 8 and Attainment 8, partly because of their selective intake rather than teaching quality alone. Independent (fee-paying) schools are not included in the DfE tables — they publish their results through the Independent Schools Council and on their own websites. There is no official mechanism that allows a direct comparison of state and independent school performance on the same DfE metrics.

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