Comparing schools and colleges by looking at the results that their students obtain in AS and A level examinations is a difficult task. This is a guide to the different statistics that you will see quoted from time to time.
A-E Pass Rate
This is a fairly meaningless statistic now that so few students nationally fail to gain at least a grade E at A level. Nevertheless schools sometimes “tidy up” this figure by withdrawing candidates who look certain to fail. Wymondham College does not do this. In 2011 our A-E Pass Rate was 97.6%.
A/B Pass Rate
This is a better measure and shows what percentage of grades awarded were gained at the highest levels. Of course, for many individual students gaining a C grade can be a success, but this measure does take account of that achievement. In 2011 our A/B Pass Rate was 52.8%.
Performance Points
All AS and A level grades can be expressed numerically using one of two recognised systems. One is used by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and the other is used by OFQUAL to compile the official government performance tables. The value of grades can be seen by clicking the link on the right.
The UCAS Tariff also credits a wide range of other qualifications, including vocational qualifications, music examinations and specialist qualifications (for example those validated by the British Horse Society). OFQUAL points are allocated to all qualifications in the National Qualifications Framework.
The two most frequently quoted statistics based on these points are:
Points per Student (PPS)
This shows the quantity of the results for an average student but not the quality.
On this measure with UCAS points, a student gaining five C grades (400 UCAS points) at A level ranks higher than a student gaining three A grades (360 UCAS points).
With OFQUAL points, a student gaining 5 D grades at A level (900 OFQUAL points) is better off than a student gaining three A grades (810 OFQUAL points) and will be on a par with a candidate gaining 3 A* grades (900 OFQUAL points) in future. But in reality a student with five D grades is unlikely to gain a place at a selective university whilst the student with three A* grades will have a very good chance of doing so.
Some schools have a policy of entering students for a large number of qualifications which inflates the PPS measure. Most students at Wymondham College take three A levels and one AS level but take part in many other activities which are not examined. In 2009 our PPS measure was 364.3 (UCAS) and 888.5 (OFQUAL).
Points Per Entry (PPE)
This measure is better measure of quality than points per student as it shows how well students did on average in each examination that they took. However, it is not perfect. It is widely acknowledged that some examinations are tougher than others. At Wymondham College more students than average take traditional academic subjects such as Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Physics, English Literature and History which are still amongst the most difficult subjects in which to gain high grades. In 2009 our PPE measure was 94.33 (UCAS) and 230.1 (OFQUAL). If only A Level examinations were considered, the PPE measure would be 97.4 (UCAS) and 235.2(OFQUAL).
Value Added Measures
In theory, “Value Added” measures are a good indicator of how good a school or college is at getting the best out of students. They are supposed to show how much better a student has done compared to their predicted performance based on national averages. However, there is no universally accepted measure of Value Added Performance and different schools and colleges use different measures. Value Added measures are also flawed in high performing schools such as Wymondham College because students will, on the whole, already have shown strong “value added” in their GCSE results. The most able candidates are also unable to show any “value added”. If they are predicted to gain top grades and they do, there is no value added to be claimed.
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