Focus on: Skills and Qualifications September 2017 Summary Overall Blackburn with Darwen performs above the national average on the Progress 8 measure of attainment at Key Stage 4, although there are significant differences between progress in the borough’s schools. On overall attainment, the borough scores 50.3, just above the all England average score of 48.5. After secondary education, a greater proportion of the borough’s young people stay on in full time education or training and a smaller proportion in apprenticeships, compared to Lancashire Local Education Authority (LEA). On average, a lower proportion of students who study A Levels in Blackburn with Darwen schools and colleges achieve top grades compared to the England average. Working age residents of the borough have on average lower levels of higher level qualifications and a greater proportion have no qualifications; although the gap to the regional and national averages with no qualifications is narrowing. The UK wide Employer Skills Survey estimates that of the job vacancies in the borough a lower proportion than regionally and nationally are due to skills shortages. Qualifications – Key Stage 4 The measure of attainment at Key Stage 4 (KS4) has seen a number of changes over recent years and is now moving away from the use of GCSE attainment to Progress 8 and Attainment 8 as the key measures. Progress 81 Progress 8 scores are only published for mainstream schools e.g. those classed as maintained or academies. They aim to measure how much progress pupils at each school make between the end of Key Stage 2 (KS2) and the end of Key Stage 4 (KS4), compared to pupils across England who got similar results at the end of KS 22. The average for mainstream schools in England is 0. Overall in 2015/16, Blackburn with Darwen is measured to be performing above national average, scoring 0.11. However, performance varies between schools with the top performing schools scoring well above, or above average being: School name Score – 2015/16 Tauheedul Islam Girls' High School (Academy) 1.37 (well above national average) Tauheedul Islam Boys' High School (Academy) 1.15 (well above national average) Witton Park Academy 0.25 (above national average) Schools in the borough performing below average on this measure are: School name Score – 2015/16 Darwen Aldridge Enterprise Studio (Academy) -2.01 (well below national average) Darwen Vale High School (Academy) -0.5 (below national average) 1 Source: DfE https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/schools-by-type?step=phase&region=889&geographic=la&phase=secondary https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/revised-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2015-to-2016 (Main local authority tables: SFR03/2017) 2 For definitions, further information and calculation of Progress 8 please see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/progress-8-school-performance-measure Attainment 83 In addition to Progress 8, the Attainment 8 scores are based on how well pupils have performed in up to 8 qualifications. Attainment 8 scores are available for independent schools in addition to mainstream schools. School performance tables highlight that in 2015/16 with a score of 50.3, the borough sits just above the average for state funded schools only (49.9) and above the all England schools average (48.5). Attainment 8 scores for the borough increased from 47.5 in 2014/15 to 50.3. This suggests a greater rate of improvement compared to the all England average increase from 47.5 to 48.5. Schools with an Attainment 8 score above the borough average are: School name Score – 2015/16 Tauheedul Islam Girls' High School (Academy) 64.8 Jamiatul-Ilm Wal-Huda UK School (Independent) 64.2 Westholme School (Independent) 62.9 Tauheedul Islam Boys' High School (Academy) 61.8 Islamiyah School (Independent) 59.9 Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School (Academy) 58.3 St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn (Maintained) 54.3 St Wilfrid's Church of England Academy (Academy) 52.9 Markazul Uloom (Independent) 52.4 GCSEs4 Whilst Attainment 8 and Progress 8 are now the key measures of progress at KS4 these are relatively new measures and historical data is limited. GCSE data is presented below as this provides comparative results over a longer time period. As there have been numerous changes to how GCSE attainment is measured, this needs to be borne in mind when considering the results5. Whilst different measures of attainment are available, the focus of this section will be on the percentage of pupils achieving 5+ A* to C grades including English and mathematics. Results for schools located within Blackburn with Darwen show that from 2009/10 to 2013/14 GCSE attainment in the borough has tracked below the figure for the North West and total for the state funded sector. In recent years, attainment in the borough has seen an upward trajectory, suggesting improvement in the borough’s state funded schools at a rate greater than regionally and for the state-funded sector as a whole. 3 Source: DfE https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/schools-by-type?step=phase&region=889&geographic=la&phase=secondary https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/revised-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2015-to-2016 (Main local authority tables: SFR03/2017) 4 Source: DfE https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/revised-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2015-to-2016 (Main local authority tables: SFR03/2017 andCharacteristics local authority tables: SFR03/2017 ) https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/schools-by-type?step=phase&region=889&geographic=la&phase=secondary 5 Major reforms were undertaken in 2013/14 for further detail please see the source document links Percentage of pupils at the end of key stage 4 achieving at GCSE and equivalents: 5+ A*-C grades including English and mathematics GCSEs Percentage of pupils at the end of key stage 4 achieving at GCSE and equivalents: 5+ A*-C grades including English and mathematics GCSEs 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 % % % % % % % Total 55.3 58.4 59.1 60.8 56.8 57.3 57.7 (state-funded sector) England * 53.5 59.0 59.4 59.2 53.4 53.8 53.5 North West 55.2 58.4 58.9 59.9 55.8 55.9 56.6 Blackburn with Darwen 51.9 56.9 57.0 59.5 54.6 56.9 59.8 * Includes all pupils from state-funded schools, independent schools, independent special schools, non-maintained special schools, hospital schools, pupil referral units and alternative provision. Alternative provision includes academy and free school alternative provision. Data based on the residence of the pupil, rather than the location of the school, also identifies that students in the borough perform well, with 59.0% achieving 5+ A*-C grades including English and mathematics GCSEs. Young people - participation in education and training6 Following the completion of secondary school education, from 2015 it was made compulsory for 16 to 18 year olds to be participating in education or training. Formal education is not the only option for those who have left school. In order to monitor take up of post 16 education, local authorities have a responsibility to track young people's participation in education or training. They do this through the exchange of information with schools and colleges, other youth services and through direct contact with young people. Information about a young person's activity is recorded on a client database, an extract from which is used to prepare the following statistical information. There are a proportion of young people whose activity is not recorded, which as of June 2016, stands at 5.0% in Blackburn with Darwen (higher than the North West figure of 3.3%). 6 Source: DfE https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/participation-in-education-and-training-by-local-authority In total 89.0% of 16 to 17 year olds were recorded as being in education and training within the borough, slightly below regional (90.3%) and national (91.0%) averages; the greatest proportion of which were in full time education and training. This compares to the Lancashire Local education Authority (LEA) area where 78.6% are in full time education and training and 7.8% in apprenticeships, with overall 88.8% in education and training. Proportion of 16-17 year olds recorded in education and training, June 2016, type of activity 16 to 18 Attainment7 Focusing on those who stay in education post 16, a range of data are available to measure attainment in further education providers in the borough. This data is predominantly presented using the location of the school or college, as opposed to being based on the residence of the student. For A level results in 2015/16, only 5.1% of those studying in Blackburn with Darwen achieve AAB or higher in at least 2 facilitating subjects8. This is lower than the England average for all schools/colleges (17.0%) and England state funded institutions 13.9%. The schools and colleges in the borough with the highest percentage achieving AAB or higher in at least 2 facilitating subjects: School name % Westholme School (Independent) 25.7 Tauheedul Islam Girls' High School (Academy) 9.7 St Wilfrid’s Church of England Academy 8.8 Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School (Academy) 7.1 None of the borough’s schools or colleges providing further education were identified as performing above average on their progress score, and whilst there is variation between institutions, 89.2% of students in Blackburn with Darwen Schools and Colleges were recorded as completing their main study programme compared to 96.1% in state funded schools nationally.