The 50 best schools in England have been revealed, showing where teachers are truly making a difference in class.
For the Fairer Schools Index, researchers measured each of them against additional factors such as pupil demographics, ethnicity, and deprivation, alongside existing performance-based metrics. They say this removes some of the built-in bias against secondaries teaching children from deprived areas in the Department for Education’s league tables.
The results, revealed exclusively by the Mirror, show the schools where teachers are beating the odds to make the greatest positive impact on pupils up to the age of 16.
Once the socio-economic factors of students are taken into account, some schools climb more than 1,500 places compared to their DfE ranking, making the index an invaluable resource for parents trying to decide where to send their child to be educated. The Northern Powerhouse Partnership think-tank is pushing for the index to be adopted alongside the league tables.
Chief executive Henri Murison said: “We must demand the best for every child. Those schools that beat the odds stacked against their pupils should be recognised as being high performing. And that will drive down the disadvantage gap over the next decade and reduce the gaps which exist across – and between – parts of England today.”
The index is revealed as wider questions are being asked about how the government will evaluate school performance. It has already scrapped “unfair” one-word Ofsted judgments to pave the way for more comprehensive School Report Cards next year. The DfE’s current method of evaluating secondary school performance – known as Progress 8 – measures the development of pupils from the end of primary school to the completion of year 11.
Students’ results are compared to others with similar starting points nationally. But this has failed to take into account factors including the number of children from poorer backgrounds at each school.
Doing so, critics say, risks hiding systemic inequalities and providing potentially misleading conclusions about performance. Some schools even face being unfairly marked down because the areas they serve are not taken into consideration.
Mr Murison said: “By failing to account for a number of different variables related to pupils’ backgrounds, the last government labelled many schools in areas like the North East of England as under-performing while failing to account for demographic differences in helping drive higher outcomes in London schools.”
The Fairer Schools Index, devised by Prof George Leckie of the University of Bristol, adjusts for such factors and goes some way to redress the “false narrative” of a North/South divide in DfE league tables. The results also show the real difference that the best schools make rather than pretending every one has an identical intake with the same socio-economic status and background.
As a result of applying the fairer measurements used by the index, some 233 schools out of the 928 in the North of England moved up at least one band to “average” or better.
Mr Murison continued: “The Fairer Schools Index exposes the shortcomings of Progress 8. The index will allow us to recognise better those schools that do the most for children from backgrounds too often let down in modern Britain.”
What is the Fairer Schools index?
The Fairer Schools Index uses an ‘adjusted Progress 8’ measure to assess schools’ performances. It compares the GS results of students who started from the same point at the end of Key Stage 2, similar to the government’s current Progress 8 benchmark used for the DfE’s league tables. The new measure combines that data with additional, contextual information that researchers argue should be taken into account when assessing pupils’ academic progress. These considerations include…
Free school meals
Almost a quarter (24.4%) of pupils are eligible for free school meals. Researchers found that this group makes 0.69 grades less progress per subject than those who are not eligible. This attainment gap is present at the end of primary school and grows during secondary, with poorer children making less progress than their peers.
Language
On average, pupils who speak English as an additional language – 15.4% of all students – make 0.64 grades more progress per subject than those who speak English as their first language. These students essentially catch up with
– and, by the end of secondary schooling, overtake – their peers whose mother tongue is English.
Ethnic group
Researchers found there is substantial variation in Progress 8 by ethnic group. British Chinese pupils score, on average, 1.11 grades higher per subject than expected, given their prior attainment, and British Indian pupils score 0.85 grades higher. In contrast, White pupils do worse on average, scoring 0.16 grades lower than expected, while Black Caribbean pupils score 0.21 lower.
Gender
Typically, girls make 0.26 grades more progress per subject during secondary school than boys. Given that girls already score higher than boys at the end of primary, the gender attainment gap widens over the course of secondary schooling
Special education needs
Students with SEN support account for 12.6% of all pupils across England, and make considerably less progress than those without special educational needs, data shows. Alarmingly, this attainment gap between the groups widens during secondary schooling, the researchers discovered.
Neighbourhood
Perhaps unsurprisingly, pupils living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods make less progress than those in more prosperous areas. Those residing in the most affluent 10% of neighbourhoods score, on average, 0.39 grades higher per subject than predicted by their prior attainment, while those living in the poorest 10% of areas of England score 0.43 grades lower per subject than predicted.
Month of birth
Younger pupils within the academic year, such as those born in August, score lower on average in primary and secondary school results. This is despite them generally making more progress during secondary education than their older peers.
Top ‘Unsung hero’ schools
These are the five schools which are ranked way down the DfE league tables but climb the furthest up the table when measured by the Fairer Schools Index.
Red House Academy, Sunderland
This school climbs nearly 2000 places up the league tables in the Fairer Schools Index, a bigger rise than any other school in England.
The school is ranked below average at 2720 (out of 3259 schools) in the DfE rankings, but in the Fairer Schools Index it climbs 1919 places to be ranked as ‘average’ in 801st position.
All Saints Church of England Academy, Plymouth
According to the DfE rankings, the school is ‘Below average’ and ranked 2350th in England but is ‘Above average’ in the Fairer Schools Index and ranked in the top 500 schools (451st).
Dene Academy, Durham
Another school which goes from ‘Below average’ to ‘Above average’ climbing 1,772 places from 2,304th place to 532.
Unity City Academy, Middlesbrough
According to the DfE, this school is ‘well below average’ and ranked in the bottom 15 per cent of schools in the country. But in the Fairer Schools Index, it climbs into the top third of schools and is ranked as ‘average’.
Hartsdown Academy, Kent
This is a school sitting in the top 30 per cent of schools in the country, according to the Fairer Schools Index. But going by the DfE scores, it is considered to be ‘Below Average’ and in the bottom quarter of schools, ranked 2550 out of 3259 schools.
Here are the 50 best schools in the country based on the Fairer Schools Index
1. The Steiner Academy Hereford – Herefordshire, West Midlands
2. Michaela Community School – Brent, London
3. Mercia School – Sheffield, Yorkshire and The Humber
4. Eden Boys’ School, Birmingham – Birmingham, West Midlands
5. Eden Girls’ Leadership Academy, Birmingham – Birmingham, West Midlands
6. Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls School – Hackney, London
7. Tauheedul Islam Girls’ High School – Blackburn with Darwen, North West
8. Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy – Hackney, London
9. Mossbourne Community Academy – Hackney, London
10. The St Thomas the Apostle College – Southwark, London
11. St Paul’s School for Girls – Birmingham, West Midlands
12. Twyford Church of England High School – Ealing, London
13. Henley Bank High School – Gloucestershire, South West
14. Ealing Fields High School – Ealing, London
15. St Peter’s Catholic School – Surrey, South East
16. Norham High School – North Tyneside, North East
17. Menorah High School for Girls – Brent, London
18. Ark Greenwich Free School – Greenwich, London
19. Fairfield High School – Herefordshire, County of, West Midlands
20. Sacred Heart Catholic School – Southwark, London
21. Finchley Catholic High School – Barnet, London
22. Tanfield School – Durham, North East
23. The Academy at Shotton Hall – Durham, North East
24. Gunnersbury Catholic School – Hounslow, London
25. JFS – Brent, London
26. Swanlea School – Tower Hamlets, London
27. Wingfield Academy – Rotherham, Yorkshire and The Humber
28. Eden Girls’ School Coventry – Coventry, West Midlands
29. Ashington Academy – Northumberland, North East
30. Lubavitch House School (Senior Girls) – Hackney, London
31. Chesterton Community College – Cambridgeshire, East of England
32. St Oscar Romero Catholic School – West Sussex, South East
33. Glenmoor Academy – Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, South West
34. St Andrew’s Catholic School – Surrey, South East
35. Colyton Grammar School – Devon, South West
36. Winton Academy – Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, South West
37. Dr Challoner’s Grammar School – Buckinghamshire, South East
38. Eden Girls’ Leadership Academy , Manchester – Manchester, North West
39. Tauheedul Islam Boys’ High School – Blackburn with Darwen, North West
40. Northampton Academy – Northamptonshire, East Midlands
41. The Ruth Gorse Academy – Leeds, Yorkshire and The Humber
42. Trinity Academy Cathedral – Wakefield, Yorkshire and The Humber
43. Burnage Academy for Boys – Manchester, North West
44. Bloxwich Academy – Walsall, West Midlands
45. De Warenne Academy – Doncaster, Yorkshire and The Humber
46. Manchester Communication Academy – Manchester, North West
47. Upton Hall School FCJ – Wirral, North West
48. Ashcroft Technology Academy – Wandsworth, London
49. The Morley Academy – Leeds, Yorkshire and The Humber
50. Alexandra Park School – Haringey, London
