Every school does assessments.
Baseline assessments at the start of the year.
Mock tests before SATs.
Progress checks throughout the term.
Pupils sit the tests. Teachers mark them. Leaders review the percentages.
Then comes the important question:
What happens next?
For many schools, assessment data stops at a score. A pupil achieved 72%. A class average was 68%. A cohort performed broadly in line with expectations.
But percentages alone cannot improve outcomes.
They cannot reveal misconceptions.
They cannot explain why pupils struggled.
They cannot identify the curriculum content that needs revisiting.
And they certainly cannot provide the evidence needed to justify future actions to governors, trust leaders, school improvement partners, or Ofsted.
The most effective schools understand that the real value of assessment lies not in measuring performance, but in understanding it.
At DAISI Education, we believe the Assessment is only the Beginning.
Many assessments provide a score, a percentage, or an attainment judgement. While that tells you how pupils performed, it rarely explains why they performed that way...
Every September, secondary schools welcome a new cohort of pupils armed with timetables, planners and ambitions for the years ahead.
Alongside them arrives something equally valuable, yet too often overlooked: their KS2 SATs data.
Most schools will review scaled scores.
Some will analyse attainment groups.
Others will invest time in baseline assessments to build an initial picture of their new Year 7 intake.
The strongest secondary schools do something far more powerful.
They go beyond the headline figures to understand them.
The Conversation has Shifted.
At a time when schools are expected to demonstrate a clear understanding of their pupils' starting points, the ability to articulate what learners know, where gaps exist, and how the curriculum responds has never been more important.
The question is no longer:
"What score did they achieve?"
The question is now...
"What does that score tell us about the learner and what are you doing about it?"
Why Baseline Assessments Don't Always Provide the Full Picture
For many pupils, the first weeks of secondary school...
The words "Ofsted inspection" can still make even the most experienced school leaders feel a little nervous. Not because they're unprepared, but because inspection is about far more than presenting a set of results.
It's about demonstrating that you truly understand your pupils, your curriculum and the impact your school is having every day.
The schools that navigate inspection most confidently are rarely those with the thickest folders or the slickest presentations.
They're the schools that know their children, understand their data and can clearly explain the story behind both.
Moving from Numbers to Narrative...
Beyond the Headline Results
When KS2 SATs results arrive, most schools naturally focus on the headline figures.
Expected Standard
Greater Depth
Progress Measures
School Comparisons
These measures matter. But they're only the starting point.
The real opportunity lies in understanding why pupils performed the way they did and what those results tell us about curriculum effectiveness, teaching, learning and future priorities.
And that's where DAISI Education's Question Level Analysis (QLA) can really help...
Looking back...
Schools today have access to more data than ever before.
Assessment scores, attendance figures, behaviour records, pupil progress measures, intervention tracking, benchmarking reports, and survey responses can provide a wealth of information. Yet having data is not the same as using it effectively.
The most successful schools understand a fundamental truth:
The best schools don't just collect data.
They use it.
The biggest difference between good and great schools is often not the quantity of data they hold, but how they turn that information into meaningful action.
Moving Beyond Data Collection
Collecting data has become routine in education. Every assessment, test, and observation generates another set of numbers that can be stored, analysed, and reported.
However, data in isolation tells us very little.
A pupil scoring 65% on a test provides a headline figure, but it doesn't explain what they understand, where misconceptions exist, or what support they need next. Looking only at overall scores can leave crucial insights hidden beneath the surface.
This is where effective schools take...
Recently, we surveyed secondary schools up and down the country asking about Transition.
It seems like every school and area has a different way of working.
Most focus first on getting to know their pupils with activity days in school or a mock timetable.
Some give immediate tests. It seems there is not a clear way for everyone to follow.
But this is really important.
But what about academic transition?
Stalled Progress at Key Stage 3
A recent Ofsted report stated..
"the transition to secondary is too often poorly managed and teaching fails to build on the gains pupils have made in primary school. Inspectors have found that pupils often leave primary school with good literacy and numeracy skills, confident and eager to learn, but their progress then stalls when they start secondary school."
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/too-many-students-let-down-in-early-stages-of-secondary-school
The fact is that the importance of a good start to secondary school education cannot be overstated. Pupils need to enjoy school and get involved with the many subjects to choose...
This series of articles examines Ofsted Inspectors' comments, as published in their Inspection Reports, in relation to "Outstanding" schools.
In this article, we will have a look at work in pupils' books.
Work in Books
In the 2018 Ofsted School inspection handbook, which was the current one at the time of these inspections, Ofsted said that (my emphasis added):
188. Inspectors will gather evidence about the progress of current pupils through: • observations in lessons • discussions with pupils about their understanding of things they have been learning about • scrutiny of pupils’ acquisition of knowledge, understanding and skills over time as shown in their work, including that in their books • the school’s own information, taking account of the quality and rigour of the assessment on which it is based.
However, in the draft 2019 handbook, Ofsted are proposing to essentially remove the last bullet point. They say:
178. While they will consider the school’s use of assessment (see paras...
In this series of articles, we are looking at Ofsted inspectors' comments on schools which they have judged to be outstanding.
In this article, we'll have a look at their comments regarding the "most able" pupils (typically pupils which a high Prior Attainment).
The attainment and progress of most able pupils
It is not surprising that in these schools the most able pupils are working above age-related expectations. However, it seems that these pupils exceed even the high attainment shown nationally for high prior attainers:
Teachers also ensure that the most able are regularly challenged to reach and exceed high targets. The most able pupils made outstanding progress in reading, writing and mathematics.The most able pupils in the school attain particularly well compared with similar pupils nationally.
It should be noted that, under the KS2 Progress calculation methodology, there is a lower cap on how much progress can be measured for high prior attainers compared to others. For example, a Level 3 student...
In this series of articles, we are looking at Ofsted inspector's comments regarding Outstanding schools.
In this article, we will be looking at their comments in relation to Early Years Provision.
Early Years Provision
Ofsted comments about the dedication of the staff:
Leaders, teachers and teaching assistants in the early years are extremely dedicated to ensuring that children get the best start.Leadership is highly effective, with a strong emphasis on providing care and nurture as well as challenge and ambition.The high quality of phonics teaching contributes to this success.
and their ambition for the children:
They plan activities which consistently provide the right level of difficulty for all ability groups.Leaders have ensured that the early years curriculum is interesting, engaging, broad and balanced. Children develop curiosity and want to find out more. Most activities have a clear purpose behind them and build upon what the children have previously learned to do.
Two schools which were judged "Outstanding" overall were only "Good" for Early Years:
However,...
In this series of articles, we are looking at Ofsted inspectors' comments made when inspecting "outstanding" schools.
In this article, we'll see what those comments were regarding phonics.
Comparison with the National Average
As might be expected for outstanding schools, the percentage of pupils who have passed the Year 1 phonics is above the national average. And it generally is not a one-off.
Attainment in the phonics screening check is consistently above national expectations.
The proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check has been consistently above the national average for the last three years.
Inspectors also look at those pupils who don't pass in Year 1. Nearly all of them (but not necessarily 100%) pass by the end of Year 2.
Most of the very small number of pupils not achieving the standard by the end of Year 1 go on to meet it by the end of Year 2.
By the end of Year 2, almost...
In this series of articles, we are looking at 42 primary-phase schools which Ofsted has deemed to be "outstanding".
In this article, we'll have a look at attainment.
Outcomes exceeding National Standards
Perhaps unsurprising for "outstanding" schools, school's attainment is above average:
The proportion of current pupils achieving higher standards in reading and mathematics in Year 6 is well above the most recent national averages...By the end of key stage 1, pupils attain standards that are consistently above those of other pupils nationally in reading, writing, mathematics and science.Pupils' excellent personal skills, as well as their academic achievements, mean that they are exceptionally well prepared for the next stage of their education. In 2018, 98% of Year 6 pupils attained the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics.
Ofsted's inspectors sometimes comment on why this is:
... because of the high expectations of staff and very effective teaching. The highly positive outcomes in mathematics are due to leaders’ highly effective approach to teaching and assessing...
