ATL comment on provisional GCSE, AS and A-level results

“We are not clear why the Government has decided to publish these data now. Is it because parents are choosing secondary schools for their children? If so, this is a bizarre move because points scores tell us very little about the things that matter. Parents need more than just exam results - they want to know that their children are happy and that they are progressing and flourishing as expected.

"These statistics seem to show that sponsored academies are not working. The data reveals that at GCSE level, 10.4% fewer pupils achieve the five A*-C (including maths and English) measure in sponsored academies than in Local Authority maintained schools. The announcement that the Weald of Kent Grammar can expand may distract from some of the inconvenient data contained within this statistical release about the attainment of pupils at sponsored academies and free schools. Is the timing of this announcement a coincidence?

“We hope that the Government has taken note of the data in its rush to force schools to become academies, and that they will think carefully about the quality of sponsors when they come to impose them without consultation on schools. It is time for evidence-based policy, not just policy-based evidence.”