FFT Education Datalab

What will be the impact of the Curriculum and Assessment Review on subject take-up at Key Stage 4? - FFT Education Datalab With the publication of the Curriculum and Assessment Review imminent, we look at the extent to which schools offer different subjects at Key Stage 4, and how entry patterns have been changing in the last few years

NEW: What will be the impact of the Curriculum and Assessment Review on subject take-up at KS4?

With the publication of the Curriculum and Assessment Review imminent, we look at the extent to which schools offer different subjects at KS4 and how entry patterns have been changing

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FFT Attendance Tracker is now updated with the latest school and national weekly attendance data up to Friday 3 October 2025.

View your school's attendance. 🔍
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#attendancematters #education

Join our free discovery webinar next week to find out how schools are transforming #phonics outcomes with FFT.

✅ Explore Success for All Phonics
✅ See our suite of included resources
✅ Learn how we support assessment

Sign up
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Wed 8 Oct (12:00) ➡️ vist.ly/4882g

Why early reading work is vital to spot and support pupils with SEND We must ensure that a focus on reading help is not lost amid SEND debates and reform proposals, argues Mike Fischer

A new @fftedu.bsky.social report outlines why early reading work is key to spotting and supporting pupils with SEND to ensure they do not fall behind at the start of their school journey

How the system forgot about white working-class girls While the underachievement of white working-class boys has attracted political attention, the struggles of disadvantaged white girls continue to be overlooked. School leaders tell Tes why this needs to change

What about white working-class girls? The attainment of disadvantaged white girls isn’t much better than for the boys, yet the struggles they are facing are being overlooked, school leaders warn

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FFT Attendance Tracker is now updated with the latest school and national weekly attendance data up to Friday 19 September 2025.

View your school's attendance. 🔍
👇
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#attendancematters #education

Why does England lose so many promising young mathematicians from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds? - FFT Education Datalab A look at the leaky pipeline for pupils who show potential in maths at age eleven but don't go on to pursue the subject.

NEW POST: Why does England lose so many promising young mathematicians from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds?

A look at the leaky pipeline for pupils who show potential in maths at age eleven but don't go on to pursue the subject.

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CEPEO ADRUK Introduction to Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) data Join us for this online intro to the datasets comprising LEO, including university applications and the businesses in which individuals work

🎓Want to learn about the Longitudinal Educational Outcomes (LEO) dataset, a state-of-the-art linked education-labour+more resource?

We're running online and in-person courses:
🦁 30 Sep-1 Oct (AM, online) tinyurl.com/leo-online
🦁 7 Oct (in-person): Practical Intro to LEO tinyurl.com/leo-practical

Interested in using the National Pupil Database (NPD) in your research but don't know where to start? Or just want to learn more about this great resource?

Sign up for our online course on the NPD next Tues and Weds (23-24 Sept) supported by ADR UK:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cepeo-adru...

The doors of this year's ADR UK conference are open and it's wonderful to see delegates coming in already for today's workshops!

Do have a browse through the incredible array of abstracts now published in IJPDS ijpds.org/issue/view/43

Be sure to follow @adruk2025.bsky.social for conference updates

Do you know any Year 6 parents or carers applying for a secondary school place next month?

My next free webinar on how to make sense of all the online data about school performance is on Wednesday 24th September at 7:45pm - please help spread the word, thanks!

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/secrets-of...

How many pupils resit English and maths? - FFT Education Datalab Although it is a requirement that pupils who do not achieve grade 4 in English (or maths) at GCSE continue to study English (or maths) post-16 by no means all of them enter a qualification.

NEW POST: How many pupils resit English and maths?

It is a requirement that pupils who do not achieve grade 4 in English (or maths) at GCSE continue to study English (or maths) post-16. But how many pupils actually enter a qualification in maths or English post-16?

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Is the start of term critical for tackling persistent absence? - FFT Education Datalab Absence at the start of term is no more predictive of persistent absence than at any other time of year.

NEW POST: Is the start of term critical for tackling persistent absence?

In our latest post, we find that absence at the start of term is no more predictive of persistent absence than at any other time of year.

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The pupils who leave school without passes in GCSE English and mathematics - FFT Education Datalab Post-COVID there has been a rise in the percentage of pupils leaving school without a pass (9-1) in GCSE English and a similar figure in maths. Most of these pupils were not entered for examinations.

NEW POST: The pupils who leave school without passes in GCSE English and mathematics

Post-COVID there has been a rise in the percentage of pupils leaving school without a pass (9-1) in GCSE English and maths. Most of these pupils were not entered for examinations.

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DfE will need to take account of age when comparing schools’ rates of pupils achieving a good level of development - FFT Education Datalab We look at some of the things DfE should consider when providing schools with comparative analysis of the percentage of pupils reaching a good level of development (GLD) at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

NEW POST: DfE will need to take account of age when comparing schools’ rates of pupils achieving a good level of development

We look at some of the things DfE should consider when providing schools with comparative analysis of pupils reaching a good level of development.

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What one Rust Belt town teaches us about closing achievement gaps The impact of a literacy programme in Steubenville, Ohio, shows it is possible to boost outcomes for white, working-class pupils – so let’s act now, says Mike Fischer

It is possible to close the attainment gap for white, working-class pupils – we need only look to Steubenville, Ohio, to find out how, writes Mike Fischer of @fftedu.bsky.social

An early look at pupils who did not achieve the basics last year - FFT Education Datalab Based on data from 1,500 secondary schools, we take an early look at the pupils who did not achieve a standard pass in English and maths GCSE.

NEW POST: An early look at pupils who did not achieve the basics last year

Based on data from 1,500 secondary schools, we take an early look at the pupils who did not achieve a standard pass in English and maths GCSE.

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Students participating in a hands-on science activity at a table, using a large circular educational tool, with the Institute of Physics logo and hashtag #RetainRecruitRetrain visible.

Despite the heroic efforts of teachers across England, over 700,000 students are navigating some of their most critical years in education without access to specialist physics teaching.

🔗 Read our new report: iop.org/3RS

#RetainRecruitRetrain

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We assume C but have been put off digging into it by the changes to C.

Usage of new attendance codes: An update - FFT Education Datalab New statutory guidance for schools in relation to recording and managing attendance (and absence) came into effect in September last year. We take a look at the use of codes to record absences in attendance registers.

NEW POST: Usage of new attendance codes: An update

New statutory guidance for schools in relation to recording and managing attendance (and absence) came into effect in September last year. We take a look at the use of codes to record absences in attendance registers.

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Exclusions and suspensions in 2024/25 - FFT Education Datalab An update to our regular series using attendance data to gauge the rate of exclusion and suspension in the whole of the 2024/25 academic year

NEW POST: Exclusions and suspensions in 2024/25

An update to our regular series using attendance data to gauge the rate of exclusion and suspension in the whole of the 2024/25 academic year.

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Calculating a Key Stage 4 progress measure using CAT4 in place of Key Stage 2 - FFT Education Datalab There will be no official Progress 8 measures this year due to the cancellation of Key Stage 2 tests in 2020. However, we have produced an alternative measure using CAT4 scores as a baseline.

NEW POST: Calculating a Key Stage 4 progress measure using CAT4 in place of Key Stage 2

There will be no official Progress 8 measures this year due to the cancellation of KS2 tests in 2020. We have produced an alternative measure using CAT4 scores as a baseline.

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GCSE results 2025: The main trends in grades and entries - FFT Education Datalab Our round-up of everything you need to know about this year's GCSE results.

Catching up on the news about #GCSEresultsday? Here's our take:

🔸 Grades are up very slightly from last year
🔸 The gender gap in grading is closing
🔸 Entries to triple science are down and double up
🔸 Re-take entries are up, but grades remain low

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GCSE results 2025: The main trends in grades and entries - FFT Education Datalab Our round-up of everything you need to know about this year's GCSE results.

Our analysis of GCSE results day 2025 is now out.

🔸 Grades are up very slightly from last year
🔸 The gender gap in grading is closing
🔸 Entries to triple science are down and double up
🔸 Re-take entries are up, but grades remain low

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📉 Top GCSEs grade are up slightly this year overall, but some subjects saw higher increases than others.

The % achieving 9-7 increased by 2 percentage points in biology and chemistry and 1 in physics. French and German were also up by 2 pp.

🔗 vist.ly/445bs

GCSE results 2025: The main trends in grades and entries - FFT Education Datalab Our round-up of everything you need to know about this year's GCSE results.

📈 GCSE entries from 16-year-olds in biology, chemistry and physics fell by 6% this year. Double science entries are up 2%.

Entries in History and German also fell by 6%, while entries in music and statistics increased for a second successive year.

🔗 vist.ly/44566