Interpreting Sunday Times school league tables

You are probably wondering how easy is it to find THE LATEST school league tables.

Then, how then do I interpret Sunday Times’ school league tables?

 

How to analyse school league tables

Guide to interpreting Sunday Times school league tables.

 

Sunday Times school leagues

TOP independent schools entry test prep

BEST private schools 11+ entry test 

 

Which entry test practice formats should my child use to practice?

School entrance tests are constantly changing formats.

The three school entry exam publishers are: GL Assessment, ISEB and CEM Select.

Familiarizing your child with their entry Test content & entry exam formats. Increase your child’s confidence as part of their prep.

Top independent school entry test practice

11+ entry past papers and MATHS 11+ and ENGLISH 11+ test prep

13 Plus test practice and recommended 13+ prep private school entry.

16 Plus Test Practice and our top 16+ private school entrance past papers.

Looking for your best local schools?

Step-by-step guide to using THE LATEST school league tables

  1. Search online for the latest Guardian, Times and Telegraph websites.
  2. It’s worth paying for at least one month’s subscription so you can filter published league tables for your local schools shortlist.
  3. You can pull out those schools for which you are in the catchment area.
  4. Then compare your chosen school group on those criteria which are most important to you.

You need to conduct your own analysis to determine which school best suits your child’s specific needs.

What are school league tables?

These school league table rankings, including Guardian   and Telegraph   are based on the latest exam results. Often with the publisher’s own school awards added. Non-exam based criteria are also used to determine the rankings. In summary, a combination of national education standards, SAT results, GCSE grades and A-Level results.

Have a question about school league tables?

Rob Williams

An Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, Rob Williams is a Chartered Psychologist with over 25 years of experience working and designing tests.
Rob has consulted for many of the top school entrance test publishers, including the ISEBCambridge AssessmentHodder Education, and the actual GL CAT4 publishers themselves.

What do school league tables mean? How are school league tables compiled?

  • These are typically based on national key standards. In the case of primary school league tables then the national education standards being used are the SATs.
  • Although each publisher will apply their own, more subjective criteria.
  • We would advise parents to always remember that school league tables can only provide indications of your local schools’ performance levels. In fact, if you’re lucky you may well be within the school catchment areas of several high performing schools.
  • Rather than adding to the national obsession with school league tables, we would advise parents not to overanalyse over their local school league tables.
  • Always keep in mind that a holistic education is ultimately the most important factor. Ask yourself and your child what are the most important factors (pastoral support, extra-curricula opportunists, sporting facilities). Factors in additional to exam success.

 

Check Ofsted Reports

Always check the latest Ofsted reports for each of those schools on your local schools shortlist. These are something that you must check for each indepdnet school of interest. Each Ofsted report is an analysis of that school’s teachers’ professional competence. Plus, how well performance standards have been met across the independent school. There are three possible outcomes: under-achieving; achieving; or outstanding.

 

Tips when applying for top school places

For example, with sixth from applications there is no limit to how many sixth form colleges you can apply to. Whereas, primary school applications:

  1. Depending on your local authority you can submit between three and six school preferences.
  2. Primary school places are then allocated by the school’s governing body, an academy trust or the local authority.
  3. Each primary school will have its own admissions criteria. This must be within the national framework for primary school entry. Hence, on school offer day parents will be offered only one primary school place for their child.
  4. Then shortlist all those schools you and your child like. Consider all those schools falling within your catchment area. You now have a shortlist of schools which can review at your leisure.
  5. Provided this is a relatively short list, then visit each school for yourself and your child.
  6. Check the latest Ofsted reports for each school. Prepare questions on any school topic that is unclear. Do you have any reservations? Why can’t you see your child at this school.
  7. Such introspective self questioning will help you to prepare questions for school open day visits.
  8. When attending a school open day, ask yourself whether the school atmosphere and ethos are a good fit for your child.
  9. We certainly recommend shortlisting schools based on national standard statistics. More specifically, the percentage of students meeting the expected standards. For example if the national standard is 60%, then you need to check whether each of your selected schools exceeded that in their latest Ofsted inspections.