City secondary schools ranked highest and lowest for progress (2024)

Leicester’s top five and lowest five schools for student progress have been named in a new study. Rushey Mead Academy on Melton Road in the city was top of the list, whilst Lancaster Academy on Knighton Lane East, recently rated as ‘good’ by Ofsted, showed the lowest.

The school attainment report* ranked secondary schools in Leicester based on their average Progress 8 score by using information provided on the government website. The government uses Progress 8 as a way of measuring how well students make progress at secondary school compared to pupils at other schools “with similar academic starting positions”.

The academic starting point begins at the end of key stage two (year six or the last year of primary school) with a student’s results in English and maths assessments (SATS) to the end of key stage four (years ten and eleven when they take GCSEs).

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In 2016, Progress 8 replaced the previous measure of school performance 5A*-C including English and maths. According to government claims, Progress 8 is a better way to show how students of all abilities have progressed compared to their peers.

A school’s Progress 8 score usually falls between minus one (-1 ) and plus one (+ 1). A +1 score means that pupils, on average, are achieving one grade more in each qualification than similar students across the country. A score of -1 would reflect an achievement of one grade less.

The report has been pulled together from government data from last year’s GCSE results. The Progress 8 score is an indicator of the amount of help each secondary school gave pupils to improve their overall grades.

In Leicester, Rushey Mead Academy had the highest Progress 8 score with 1.09 above the average of zero. The school was recently reported by LeicestershireLive as one of the eight secondary schools across the city and county that had an outstanding rating by Ofsted .

Top five schools in the city with the highest Progress 8 score average

1. Rushey Mead Academy, Melton Rd: 1.09 score with 382 pupils at the end of key stage 4

2. Avanti Fields School, Furrow View: 0.69 score with 111 pupils at the end of key stage 4

3. Soar Valley College, Gleneagles Avenue: 0.67 score with 310 pupils at the end of key stage 4

4. Madani Girls School, Evington Valley Road: 0.64 score with 61 pupils at the end of key stage 4

5. Madani Boys School, Evington Valley Road: 0.64 score with 61 pupils at the end of key stage 4

Special education schools are not included.

Schools with a Progress 8 score below 0.5 are “not achieving the minimum standard set by the government”; however, for some schools there are different variables that could be considered in the calculations.

The government’s April 2024 secondary accountability guide notes that “there will be some pupils who have no KS2 results to use as the baseline for the Progress 8 measure, for example, those arriving at secondary school from the independent sector or abroad or where test results have been annulled due to KS2 maladministration”. The government says those students’ scores will be left out of the Progress 8 measure and “the pupils will not be included in the denominator when calculating the average of the progress scores for the school”.

Students reaching the end of KS4 in academic years 2024/25 and 2025/26 will not have KS2 attainment data due to Covid-19 disruptions. After “exploring alternative options”, the government has concluded that there will be no replacement for Progress 8 measures for those academic years.

Lancaster Academy is top of the list of those with the lowest Progress 8 score, with a score of -0.78.

In second place was Orchard Mead Academy in Hamilton, with a score of -0.61. The school was listed as having the third highest truancy rate listed across Leicester and Leicestershire in October last year.

The five schools in the city with the lowest Progress 8 score average

1. Lancaster Academy, Knighton Lane East: -0.78 score with 382 pupils at the end of key stage 4

2. Orchard Mead Academy, Keyham Lane West: -0.61 score with 226 pupils at the end of key stage 4

3. Babington Academy, Beaumont Leys: -0.53 score with 264 pupils at the end of key stage 4

4. Tudor Grange Samworth Academy, Trenant Rd: -0.48 score with 95 pupils at the end of key stage 4

5. New College, Glenfield Rd: -0.26 score with 171 pupils at the end of key stage 4

Anna Fisher, Principal at Lancaster Academy, said: "The Progress 8 score measures progress from KS2 to KS4. Unlike other schools where all students count towards the measure, only 50% of our students are represented in the published score. This is because many of our students come to us without KS2 data. When all students are included in the calculation the Progress 8 score is significantly higher."

LeicestershireLive also approached Orchard Mead Academy for a comment.

*The school attainment report is created by Online Marketing Surgery

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