Alice Smith examination results are excellent, however, when we consider that as a school we are not highly selective like many UK independent and international schools, our results are truly outstanding. When reflecting on academic results, we can look at absolute attainment, but in order to understand the impact of any school it is also important to look at achievement too and the progress students make during their studies. There are many factors that may influence achievement such as the quality of teaching and the learning environment.
Measuring the impact that teaching and a school has on student outcomes is known as Value Added. Many schools will simply report high grades but do not report value added which provides a more complete picture of how a school positively impacts on student learning and results.
Value Added is calculated by comparing a predicted grade (statistically derived from an accurate and fully standardised assessment which compares the outcomes of tens of thousands of students) with a student’s actual examination grade; the difference between the two is either positive, neutral or negative and indicates the impact the school has had upon the student’s outcomes.
Our students achieve consistently high academic results, however, absolute academic attainment does not show the personal progress and achievement each individual student has made. This is far better reflected by our Value Added score.
