Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average GCSE score was for pupils in (a) Barnsley and (b) England in each of the last three years.

The average GCSE attainment of pupils in state-funded schools, at the end of Key Stage 4, in Barnsley and England in each of the last three years[1] can be found in the attached table.

The Attainment 8 point score system was changed in 2016/17 with the introduction of 9 to 1 grades in some GCSEs; this resulted in an expected decrease in scores for England between 2015/16 and 2016/17 and prevents direct comparisons between the two years for all figures[2].

‘Shadow data’ was generated for 2015/16 by taking pupil results from 2015/16 and directly matching them to the points that they would have been allocated, if the same pupil took exactly the same subjects and achieved the same marks in 2016/17. For further information, see the ‘Key stage 4 shadow measures’ ad-hoc release here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/604312/KS4_shadow_measures_FINAL.pdf. This method produced a comparable 2015/16 average Attainment 8 figure for England of 44.6.

[1] 2016/17 data is revised and all other years are final.

[2] The decrease between 2015/16 and 2016/17 for England is in line with what was expected due to the change in points scores.