School Data Dashboard – guidance for
special schools
This document provides guidance on the measures used to populate the School Data
Dashboard for special schools. Specifically, it provides information on the definitions
used, the limitations of the data and any changes in methodology which may have
affected the data.
The information provided in the key stage subsections (such as attainment,
progress) details the definitions underlying the measures. Please refer to the issues
section at the end of each key stage for information on methodological changes
affecting trend data.
Published: March 2015
Reference no: 150036
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Contents
General information
Presentation of data for special schools
Coverage
Performance scales
Pupils working below the level of the National Curriculum/key stage tests
National levels
Data management
Rounding
Percentage points
Data suppression
Interpreting data on special schools
4
4
4
5
6
6
7
7
7
8
8
Key Stage 1
Attainment
Attendance
Context
Key Stage 1 data issues
8
8
9
9
10
Key Stage 2
Attainment
Progress
Attendance
Context
Key Stage 2 data issues
10
10
11
11
11
12
Key Stage 4
Attainment
Progress
Attendance
Closing the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged pupils
Context
Key Stage 4 data issues
13
13
13
14
14
15
15
General information
Presentation of data for special schools
The information presented on the School Data Dashboard is intended as a starting
point for conversations about school performance. Governors and schools should
access RAISEonline and the schools’ own data in order to discuss any issues in
further detail.
There are three ways in which data from special schools are presented in the School
Data Dashboard:
 A school only has pupils performing below age-related expectations and will
have a dashboard which only displays data in the sections covered below.
These data are labelled with an asterisk on the dashboard tab (for example,
Key Stage 1 *)
 The school has pupils performing below age-related expectations and pupils
performing in line with age-related expectations and will have a dashboard
which displays data in the same sections as non-special schools and also the
sections covered below.
 The school only has pupils performing in line with age-related expectations
and will have a dashboard which displays data in the same sections as nonspecial schools. The sections covered below will not be relevant to these
schools.
Coverage
Data on pupils working below age-related expectations are presented for the
following types of school:
 academy special converters
 academy special sponsor led
 community special schools
 foundation special schools
 free schools specials
 non-maintained special schools.
Non-special schools which have pupils operating below age-related expectations will
not have these data published as part of the dashboard.
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March 2015, No. 150036
Performance scales
The performance scales (P scales)1 are used to report statutory attainment data for
pupils with special educational needs who are working below Level 1 of the National
Curriculum. They are used at the end of Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3
for reporting teacher assessments in English, mathematics and science to the
Standards and Testing Agency (STA).
It is important to note that:
 the P scales operate independently of chronological age
 the P scales are not used for children who are working below Level 1 of the
National Curriculum but who do not have special educational needs.
The P scales are split into eight levels with P1i being the lowest and P8 the highest.
Level P8 leads into National Curriculum Level 1.
P1i to P3ii describe early learning and conceptual development while P4 to P8 relate
to particular elements of a subject. It is not normally appropriate, for example, that
pupils at P1i to P3ii in English would be given reading, writing, speaking or listening
levels (P4 to P8). However, there may be exceptional circumstances where a pupil is
judged to be at P1i to P3ii in English but at P4 to P8 in a particular element of the
subject, for example, listening. This also applies to mathematics.
Table 1 shows the levels available for reporting against English and mathematics.
Table 1: P scale reporting levels for English and mathematics
Subject
Reporting levels
English
reading
writing
speaking
listening
Mathematics
number
using and applying
mathematics
shape, space and measures
P1i, P1ii, P2i, P2ii, P3i, P3ii
P4, P5, P6, P7, P8
P1i, P1ii, P2i, P2ii, P3i, P3ii
P4, P5, P6, P7, P8
1
For more information see:
www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/assessment/a00203453/about-the-p-scales.
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Pupils working below the level of the National Curriculum/key
stage tests
The National Curriculum has statutory assessments at the end of each key stage:
 Key Stage 1 tasks and tests during Year 2.
 Key Stage 2 National Curriculum tests taken at the end of Year 6.
 Key Stage 3 teacher assessments at the end of Year 9.
 Key Stage 4 examinations (for example, GCSEs).
These assessments are intended to show if a child is working at, above or below the
target level for their age. From September 2014 the current National Curriculum
system has been replaced.2
At Key Stage 1 children may be assessed as working below the level of the National
Curriculum (for example, below Level 1) or as working at National Curriculum level
(for example, Level 1, Level 2).
At Key Stage 2 the school may decide that a child who is working significantly below
the target level for their age should not sit the tests at the end of the key stage and
should be teacher assessed instead. Between the time of entry for the Key Stage 2
tests and the tests themselves it is possible for a child to make progress and
reach/surpass their target level by the time of the test.
National levels
National levels are presented in the data dashboard for special schools for the
following measures:
 Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2: attendance and context
 Key Stage 2: progress
 Key Stage 4: examination results, progress, closing the gap, attendance and
context.
The national levels for attendance presented in the dashboard are the national level
for secondary schools, based on data from maintained mainstream secondary
schools (including academies). From 2013, this is the attendance figure based upon
three terms. Prior to 2013, the attendance figures are based upon two and a half
terms. The dashboard does not include a national figure for attendance in special
schools due to the small number and diverse range of special schools.
The national level for context is the national level for secondary schools and it is
based on data from maintained mainstream secondary schools (including
2
For more information on changes to the National Curriculum, see:
www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/curriculum/nationalcurriculum2014.
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academies). The quintiles presented in the context section are based on the
distribution of secondary schools and are provided for reference for special schools
to compare to these figures.
The national level for examination, progress and closing the gap measures is the
national level for secondary schools and it is based on data from maintained
mainstream secondary schools (including academies), along with city technology
colleges and special schools. For the closing the gap measure the national level
displayed is that for the ‘other’ group. This is because the national level for the
‘other’ group tends to be higher than the national level for the ‘disadvantaged’ group.
It is hoped that schools will aspire to raise the attainment of all their pupils to the
highest level.
Data management
Rounding
Calculations are made on unrounded data before the percentages presented in the
School Data Dashboard are rounded to 0 decimal places. The exception to this is
attendance data, which are rounded to one decimal place in line with school targets.
The rounding convention is as follows:
 Any fractions of 0.5 and above will be rounded up, and anything less than
0.5 will be rounded down. For example, 74.5 will be rounded to 75 while
85.4 will be rounded to 85.
Percentage points
The School Data Dashboard measures changes over the most recent two years in
terms of percentage points. For special schools this comparison is made for
attendance only (please see section below – interpreting data on special schools).
The term ‘percentage point’ refers to an absolute change between two percentage
units. This is in contrast to actual percentage change, which refers to a relative
change based on the original value.
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April 2014, No. 140080
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For example, the absence record of a school is 4.5% in 2011 and 6.7% in 2012,
therefore:
 the change in percentage points is calculated as: 4.5% - 6.7% = an
increase of 2.2 percentage points
 the change in percentage would be calculated as
= an
increase of 48.9%.
Data suppression
Ofsted applies the suppression rules outlined by the Department for Education3. For
all key stages, school level data are suppressed if they are based on a denominator
of five or less. National level data are suppressed where the numerator is three or
less and can be subject to secondary suppression.
Data in the attendance section are based on the number of sessions and are not
suppressed.
Interpreting data on special schools
The School Data Dashboard shows three years of data, where available, enabling
users to make comparisons over time. For special schools, users are advised to
exercise caution when making comparisons over time as the special educational
needs of a cohort may differ year on year. Therefore, any changes over time may
reflect the characteristics of the cohort rather than reflecting the work done by the
school to raise the attainment of pupils.
Cohort numbers are presented for each measure displayed on the School Data
Dashboard. Where the measure presents data for pupils working at the National
Curriculum level there may be a cohort number but no corresponding bar. This is
because measures for pupils working at the National Curriculum level are based on
all pupils in the cohort. If all pupils in the cohort are working below the level of the
National Curriculum, then their attainment will not be shown on the standard
dashboard measures. Additionally, if one or two pupils are working at National
Curriculum level, then the small percentage value shown on the chart will be due to
the denominator including pupils working below the level of the National Curriculum.
Key Stage 1
Attainment
Data provide information on the attainment of pupils as measured against the P
scales. Data are based on teacher assessments and pupils with missing or invalid
3
Department for Education, ‘Rules on publication of small numbers’:
www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/secondary_12/documents.html.
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results are not included in the calculations. Pupils who have a P scale level in both
P1i to P3ii and in P4 to P8 will be displayed in P1i to P3ii only.
Data are provided for the percentage of pupils attaining:
 P1 to P3 English (lower) / P4 to P8 reading
 P1 to P3 English (lower) / P4 to P8 writing
 P1 to P3 mathematics (lower) / P4 to P8 mathematics.
Attendance
Overall attendance is the percentage of sessions (a session is defined as morning or
afternoon) attended by all pupils in the school and is calculated as:
(Attendance = 100% - % of overall absence)
From 2013, the measure of overall absence is based on all three terms of the year
collected via the School Census, which are then combined. It should be noted that
attendance figures are at school level and therefore not specific to any key stage.
Prior to 2013, overall absence has been calculated based upon two and a half terms
(autumn, spring and first half of the summer term) of school level absence data,
collected via the School Census, which are then combined.
Special school attendance figures are compared to the national level for maintained
mainstream secondary schools. The dashboard does not include a national figure for
attendance in special schools due to the small number and diverse range of special
schools. Please note that this will be subject to review when Ofsted updates in future
years.
Context
The context section displays national, school and year group level data for those
pupils reflected in the dashboard measures. Data are taken from the January Schools
Census and cover:
 number of pupils on roll
 percentage of girls
 percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM)
 percentage of pupils supported by School Action Plus or with a statement of
special educational needs (SEN)
 type of special educational needs that the school accommodates.
School Action Plus is where advice or support for pupils is received from external
specialists (for example, specialist teachers, educational psychologists, and speech
and language therapists). Pupils with a statement of SEN have had a formal
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April 2014, No. 140080
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assessment which sets out their needs and they are receiving the extra help and
support they need.
The special educational needs section displays the types of special educational needs
that the school currently accommodates, for example, Autistic Spectrum Disorder. A
link is provided to the spreadsheet so that the user can search for schools with
similar special educational needs provision.
The quintiles shown on the context tab are based on maintained mainstream
secondary schools and special schools are not included in these calculations. The
distribution of maintained mainstream secondary schools data is shown for
reference. Please note that this will be subject to review in future years.
Key Stage 1 data issues
 Free school meals data prior to 2012 were calculated as those pupils who
were eligible and claiming free school meals at the time of the January
Schools Census. From 2012, pupils are classed in the free school meals
category if they have been eligible for and claiming free school meals at any
time in the last six years.
Key Stage 2
Attainment
Data provide information on the reading, writing and mathematics attainment of
pupils. Data are based on teacher assessments, and pupils with missing or invalid
results are not included in the calculations.
Pupils are included in the attainment results if they have a test outcome of B which
indicates that they are working below the level of the Key Stage 2 test – that is,
below National Curriculum Level 3.
Data are provided for reading, writing and mathematics and at the following levels4:
 percentage of pupils attaining P1 to P3
 percentage of pupils attaining P4 to P8
 percentage of pupils attaining Level 1
 percentage of pupils attaining Level 2 or above*.
*For pupils working below the level of the test, the teacher assessment is capped at
Level 2, meaning that pupils with a teacher assessment of 3, 4, 5 or 6 will be
deemed to have attained a Level 2. This is because if a pupil is not entered for
National Curriculum tests, their actual Key Stage 2 attainment cannot be determined.
4
For more information on how overall English and overall mathematics are calculated please see:
www.raiseonline.org/OpenDocument.aspx?document=191.
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Progress
Data provide information on attainment at Key Stage 2 for those pupils who were
working below National Curriculum Level 1 at Key Stage 1. Pupils without prior
attainment data would have been assessed on entry to the school as working below
the required curriculum level. Pupils with missing or invalid results are not included in
the calculations.
The national transition matrices show the Key Stage 2 attainment of pupils who were
working below National Curriculum Level 1 at Key Stage 1. Data are presented at a
national level to allow comparison to school level.
Data are provided for reading, writing and mathematics and show the attainment at
Key Stage 2 of pupils who were working below National Curriculum Level 1 at Key
Stage 1. Data are presented showing the proportion of pupils attaining each of the
following levels at Key Stage 2:
 working below Level 1 of the National Curriculum
 Level 1
 Level 2 and over
 no result.
Attendance
Overall attendance is the percentage of sessions (a session is defined as morning or
afternoon) attended by all pupils in the school and is calculated as:
(Attendance = 100% - % of overall absence)
From 2013, the measure of overall absence is based on all three terms of the year
collected via the School Census, which are then combined. It should be noted that
attendance figures are at school level and therefore not specific to any key stage.
Prior to 2013, overall absence has been calculated based upon two and a half terms
(autumn, spring and first half of the summer term) of school level absence data,
collected via the School Census, which are then combined.
Special school attendance figures are compared to the national level for maintained
mainstream secondary schools. The dashboard does not include a national figure for
attendance in special schools due to the small number and diverse range of special
schools. Please note that this will be subject to review when Ofsted updates in future
years.
Context
The context section displays national, school and year group level data for those
pupils reflected in the dashboard measures. Data are taken from the January Schools
Census and cover:
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 number of pupils on roll
 percentage of girls
 percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM)
 percentage of pupils supported by School Action Plus or with a statement of
special educational needs (SEN)
 type of special educational needs that the school accommodates.
School Action Plus is where advice or support for pupils is received from external
specialists (for example, specialist teachers, educational psychologists, and speech
and language therapists). Pupils with a statement of special educational needs have
had a formal assessment which sets out their needs and they are receiving the extra
help and support they need.
The special educational needs section indicates the types of special educational
needs that the school currently accommodates, for example, Autistic Spectrum
Disorder.
The quintiles shown on the context tab are based on maintained mainstream
secondary schools and special schools are not included in these calculations. The
quintile data show where special schools would ‘slot’ into the distribution of
maintained mainstream secondary schools. However, for the category ‘Percentage of
pupils supported by School Action Plus or with a statement of special educational
needs (SEN)’ special schools will display higher figures that are beyond the levels
shown in the associated quintile. Please note that this will be subject to review in
future years.
Key Stage 2 data issues
 2012 – free school meals data prior to 2012 were calculated as those pupils
who were eligible and claiming free school meals at the time of the January
Schools Census. From 2012, pupils are classed in the free school meals
category if they have been eligible for and claiming free school meals at any
time in the last six years.
 2013 – in response to ministerial decisions with regard to the 2013 national
accountability measures for primary schools, an overall English level is no
longer calculated.
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Key Stage 4
Attainment
Data provide information on the attainment of pupils attaining any qualification at
entry level and above, and also as measured against some English Baccalaureate
(EBacc) subjects5.
Key Stage 4 attainment data require the pupil to have achieved at least one
qualification, at entry level or above, in any subject. This measure includes, but is
not limited to, a GCSE at A* to G. Entry level qualifications may be taken as an
alternative to GCSEs and are targeted at students who have special educational
needs among others. The qualifications are intended to be both accessible and
relevant.
The single measures of English and mathematics cover only the EBacc subject area
qualifications of GSCEs and accredited iGCSEs. The benchmark here is also grade A*
to G.
Pupils working below the level of the National Curriculum at Key Stage 4 cannot be
identified in the data. Therefore the data presented in the Key Stage 4 tab for low
attainers on the dashboard relate to all pupils in the cohort regardless of their prior
attainment levels.
In order to capture the attainment of those working below the National Curriculum
level the benchmark of grade A* to G has been used. In the standard school
dashboards the benchmark is A* to C.
Pupils with missing or invalid results are not included in the calculations.
Progress
Data provide information on attainment at Key Stage 4 for those pupils who were
operating below National Curriculum Level 3 at Key Stage 2.
Pupils without prior attainment data would have been assessed on entry to the
school as working below the required curriculum level. Pupils with missing or invalid
results are not included in the calculations.
Data are provided for English and mathematics and are presented for pupils who at
Key Stage 2 were working below Level 1, at Level 1 and Level 2.
The national transition matrices show the Key Stage 4 outcomes of pupils who were
working below National Curriculum Level 3 at Key Stage 2. Data are presented at a
national level to allow comparison to school level. Data from the national transition
5
More information on the National Qualification Framework can be found here:
http://ofqual.gov.uk/help-and-advice/comparing-qualifications.
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matrices are provided for English and mathematics, and are presented for pupils who
at Key Stage 2 were working below Level 1, at Level 1 and Level 2.
Attendance
Overall attendance is the percentage of sessions (a session is defined as morning or
afternoon) attended by all pupils in the school and is calculated as:
(Attendance = 100% - % of overall absence)
From 2013, the measure of overall absence is based on all three terms of the year
collected via the School Census, which are then combined. It should be noted that
attendance figures are at school level and therefore not specific to any key stage.
Prior to 2013, overall absence has been calculated based upon two and a half terms
(autumn, spring and first half of the summer term) of school level absence data,
collected via the School Census, which are then combined.
Special school attendance figures are compared to the national level for maintained
mainstream secondary schools. The dashboard does not include a national figure for
attendance in special schools due to the small number and diverse range of special
schools. Please note that this will be subject to review when Ofsted updates in future
years.
Closing the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged pupils
Disadvantaged pupils are defined as:
 Children looked after – pupils who have been looked after continuously for
six months (183 days or more) during the year and are aged five to 15. The
data do not cover those children looked after under respite care. Data are
collected on the standardised SSDA903 return, which provides the
Department for Education with data on looked after children in England
 Free school meals – pupils who were eligible for free school meals at any
point during the last six years.
Other pupils are defined as those who are not children looked after or eligible for
free school meals.
Data on disadvantaged pupils and other pupils are presented for the percentage of
pupils attaining:
 at least one qualification at entry level or above, in any subject
 EBacc English subject area at grades A* to G
 EBacc mathematics subject area at grades A* to G.
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Context
The context section displays national, school and year group level data for those
pupils reflected in the dashboard measures. Data are taken from the January Schools
Census and cover:
 number of pupils on roll
 percentage of girls
 percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM)
 percentage of pupils supported by School Action Plus or with a statement of
special educational needs (SEN)
 type of special educational needs that the school accommodates.
School Action Plus is where advice or support for pupils is received from external
specialists (for example, specialist teachers, educational psychologists, and speech
and language therapists). Pupils with a statement of special educational needs have
had a formal assessment which sets out their needs and they are receiving the extra
help and support they need.
The special educational needs section indicates the types of special educational
needs that the school currently accommodates, for example, Autistic Spectrum
Disorder.
The quintiles shown on the context tab are based on maintained mainstream
secondary schools and special schools are not included in these calculations. The
quintile data shows where special schools would ‘slot’ into the distribution of
maintained mainstream secondary schools. However, for the category ‘Percentage of
pupils supported by school action plus or with a statement of special educational
needs (SEN)’ special schools will display higher figures that are beyond the levels
shown in the associated quintile. Please note that this will be subject to review when
Ofsted updates in future years.
Key Stage 4 data issues
 2012 – closing the gap measures were changed in 2012 to encompass both
children looked after and pupils eligible for free school meals in line with the
revised definition of pupils in receipt of the Pupil Premium6. Data for the
overall measure are only available for 2012 while data on the EBacc subject
areas of English and mathematics have been updated for 2011.
 2012 – free school meals data prior to 2012 were calculated as those pupils
who were eligible and claiming free school meals at the time of the January
Schools Census. From 2012, pupils are classed in the free school meals
6
For more information on the Pupil Premium, see:
www.education.gov.uk/schools/pupilsupport/premium/b0076063/pp.
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category if they have been eligible for and claiming free school meals at any
time in the last six years.
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