Top-performing schools with high P8 for disadvantaged students in 2022
Top 20; what we noticed; and get us to do the research you're planning.
Our aim at We Are In Beta is a simple one: help schools learn from each other.
Hence: We - schools - Are In Beta - always learning.
Since 2019, the absence of national datasets has made this a bit trickier. We've had to work even harder to make other sources, like Ofsted inspections and deep dives, more accessible and actionable for you.
But the much anticipated return of exams in 2022 means, in this post, you can learn:
which 88 schools helped their disadvantaged students achieve +0.5 progress 8.
how to meet and learn from the people who work at those schools.
how results compare across the county (*with caution*).
how to save your leadership team dozens of hours wading through DfE data by commissioning us to do it for you.
🔬Top-performing schools with high P8 for disadvantaged students in 2022
This year more than any other, we do this cautiously.
The multitude of factors around the pandemic for students and staff mean so much sat outside of the sphere of influence for a schools.
So, despite doing whatever it takes to support their students, there will be schools where headline performance measures won't do justice to all they have achieved for their students.
That said, we hope that in looking at the small number of schools with really high, stand-out performance, we can find tantalising *hints* of practice that’s remarkable that all schools can learn from.
Top 20 schools for progress for disadvantaged pupils in 2022.
We found 88 schools where each of the 5158 disadvantaged students in these schools achieved, on average, more than half a grade higher across all subjects than if they went elsewhere.
Here are the top 20. Phenomenal achievements 👏
#20 Challney High School for Girls achieved +0.87 P8 for 65 disadvantaged pupils. Part of Chiltern Learning Trust, in Luton.
#19 Whitmore High School achieved +0.88 P8 for 61 disadvantaged pupils. In Harrow.
#18 Swakeleys School for Girls achieved +0.91 P8 for 50 disadvantaged pupils. Part of Swakeleys School For Girls, in Hillingdon.
#17 Forest Gate Community School achieved +0.91 P8 for 90 disadvantaged pupils. Part of Community Schools Trust, in Newham.
#16 Paddington Academy achieved +0.92 P8 for 88 disadvantaged pupils. Part of United Learning Trust, in Westminster.
#15 Ark Greenwich Free School achieved +0.94 P8 for 30 disadvantaged pupils. Part of Ark Schools, in Greenwich.
#14 Feversham Girls' Academy achieved +0.95 P8 for 35 disadvantaged pupils. Part of Feversham Education Trust, in Bradford.
#13 Eden Girls' School Coventry achieved +0.96 P8 for 42 disadvantaged pupils. Part of Star Academies, in Coventry.
#12 Eden Girls' School Waltham Forest achieved +0.98 P8 for 45 disadvantaged pupils. Part of Star Academies, in Waltham Forest.
#11 Ark Isaac Newton Academy achieved +1 P8 for 60 disadvantaged pupils. Part of Ark Schools, in Redbridge.
#10 St Paul's School for Girls achieved +1 P8 for 56 disadvantaged pupils. In Birmingham.
#9 Nishkam High School achieved +1.01 P8 for 39 disadvantaged pupils. Part of Nishkam School Trust, in Birmingham.
#8 Bentley Wood High School achieved +1.01 P8 for 57 disadvantaged pupils. Part of The Bentley Wood Trust, in Harrow.
#7 Wren Academy Finchley achieved +1.03 P8 for 27 disadvantaged pupils. Part of Wren Academies Trust, in Barnet.
#6 Featherstone High School achieved +1.05 P8 for 75 disadvantaged pupils. Part of Grand Union Multi Academy Trust, in Ealing.
#5 Ashcroft Technology Academy achieved +1.08 P8 for 62 disadvantaged pupils. Part of Prospect Education (Technology) Trust Limited, in Wandsworth.
#4 The St Thomas the Apostle College achieved +1.14 P8 for 61 disadvantaged pupils. In Southwark.
#3 Ealing Fields High School achieved +1.2 P8 for 42 disadvantaged pupils. Part of Twyford Church Of England Academies Trust, in Ealing.
#2 Sacred Heart Catholic School achieved +1.21 P8 for 61 disadvantaged pupils. Part of Sacred Heart Catholic School, in Southwark.
#1 Michaela Community School achieved +1.96 P8 for 27 disadvantaged pupils. Part of Michaela Community Schools Trust, in Brent.
What we noticed from the data
Compared to last year? Fewer schools with +0.5 P8 for disadvantaged students than when we did the equivalent search in 2019 and found 104 schools above this where there was >=25 disadvantaged pupils in the KS4 cohort.
Disadvantage gap? 14/88 (16%) of these schools had a gap of less than 0.1 between progress for disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged.
Geographical spread? Schools are spread around the country but a large proportion of them, 55/88 (63%), are in and around London. Interestingly, this is the same proportion as the set in 2019.
MATS or not? 68/88 (77%) of schools are in Multi-Academy Trusts, in line with 79% of all non-selective schools with KS4 results. A small number of MATs feature a few times in the list, with five from United Learning, four each from Ark and Star Academies, three each from Chiltern Learning Trust and the Harris Federation.
Ebacc? The proportion of students entered for EBacc varied widely across schools but it is notable that 75/88 (85%) of these schools had a higher proportion of entry than the average of 37% across all schools in England. And a third of schools, 32 of 88 (36%), had Ebacc entry of greater than 80% of their cohorts.
Gender? 25/88 (28%) schools were Girls schools compared to 5% of all equivalent non-selective secondary schools, and 9/88 (10%) were Boys compared to 2% of all similar schools.
Sent this by a friend?
Save hours and hours researching - ask us to dig deep deeper into the data for you.
To help you find fellow members who are tackling the same challenges as you, over the coming weeks we will be publishing new views of the data that go beyond the headline whole-school measures above.
These include:
subject specific views across most subjects
whole school issues like those below
Whole school requests we’ve had so far include:
Can you tell me which schools do whole cohort PE and get great results?
Can you tell me which schools get great results for students who are high prior attaining upon entry?
Can you tell me which schools have made improvements in progress and attainment between 2019-2022?
Can you tell me which schools have had a favourable a Ofsted outcome and got great outcomes and have a strong Spanish dept?
We only have capacity for a *very* small number of requests.
Tell us early to avoid missing out on this offer.
On a personal note
On the face of it, our mission is a simple one.
But it’s easier said that done:
we spend a lot of time in national databases looking for indicators of success.
we spend a lot of time reaching out to schools to understand their work.
we spend a lot of time producing and sharing content and resources about how they achieve their results.
It has taken a team of four (and a lot of very generous school leaders) three and half years to get to a point where we’re able to publish a piece of research as rich as this with links to every session we’ve done with them so far.
If it’s taken us that long, a back of an envelope calculation would suggest, it would take you 70 years to gather that kind of intel, assuming you worked on it alone, one day a week, alongside your role in school.
So I would like say a huge thank you to the We Are In Beta team, especially Fran Ling, and every school leader, who has taken the time to share how they do what they do, so you don’t have to spend a literal lifetime researching it.
Thank you.
Thanks for reading.
@NiallAlcock and the We Are In Beta team.
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