Key stage 4
Key stage 4 is the legal term for the two years of school education which incorporate GCSEs in maintained schools. This period is normally known as Year 10 and Year 11, when pupils are aged between 14 and 16 years. Since the last full update of this article the Covid-19 pandemic severely disrupted school examinations. Also a new secondary school GCSE accountability system had been implemented in 2016.
Note: This academic year saw the return of the summer exam series, after they had been cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, where alternative processes were set up to award grades (centre assessment grades, known as CAGs, and teacher assessed grades, known as TAGs). As part of the transition back to the summer exam series adaptations were made to the exams (including advance information) and the approach to grading for 2022 exams broadly reflected a midpoint between results in 2019 and 2021. More information on these changes can be seen in the Guide to GCSE results for England, summer 2022.
The KS4 performance measures for the 2021/22 academic year have been affected by our commitment not to include results from qualifications achieved between January 2020 and August 2021 in future performance measures. We have adjusted the methodology designed to minimise the impact of gaps in data for schools and colleges.
Comparisons are made with both 2021, the most recent year, and 2019, because it is more meaningful to compare to the last year summer exams were sat. Given the unprecedented change in the way GCSE results were awarded in the summers of 2020 and 2021, as well as the changes to grade boundaries and methods of assessment for 2021/22, users need to exercise caution when considering comparisons over time, as they may not reflect changes in pupil performance alone. Key Stage 4 (KS4) is the legal term for the two years of school education which incorporate GCSEs, in maintained schools, normally known as Year 10 and Year 11 when pupils are aged between 14 and 16.
Quick definitions and glossary: Attainment 8 = Average score of pupils* at end of Key Stage 4 in ≤ 8 subjects, usually at GCSE level (* in a local authority area or at a school)
Progress 8 = a measure of the progress made by pupils between the Key Stage 2 SATs and Key Stage 4 Attainment 8 (a period of 5 years)
FSM = Free School Meals SEN = Special Educational Needs SATs = Standard Assessment Tests
A new secondary school GCSE accountability system had been implemented in 2016. Some of the headline accountability measures for KS4 are as follows:
- Attainment 8 measures the average achievement of pupils in up to 8 qualifications including English (double weighted), maths (double weighted), three further qualifications that count in the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) and three further qualifications that can be GCSE qualifications (including EBacc subjects) or any other non-GCSE qualifications on the Department for Education (DfE) approved list.
- Progress 8 aims to capture the progress a pupil makes from the end of key stage 2 to the end of key stage 4. It compares pupils’ achievement – their Attainment 8 score – with the average Attainment 8 score of all pupils nationally who had a similar starting point (or ‘prior attainment’), calculated using assessment results from the end of primary school. A Progress 8 score of above 0 means a school is making above average progress.
Key results for the academic year 2021/22
- The average Attainment 8 score per pupil for Lancashire (47.6) was lower than the England (48.9), but higher than the North West (47.2), Blackburn with Darwen (46.8) and Blackpool (38.0) scores.
- The average Progress 8 score per pupil for Lancashire-12 (-0.13) was higher than the Blackpool (-0.87) and North West (-0.16) scores but lower than those of England (-0.03) and Blackburn with Darwen (0.00). Lancashire-12 pupils and the comparator areas were making below average progress, apart from Blackburn with Darwen, where average progress was made.
- The average attainment 8 scores of FSM-eligible pupils in Lancashire-12 (34.5) was lower than that of non-FSM-eligible pupils (50.8)
- The average attainment 8 scores of girls in Lancashire-12 (50.4) was higher than that of boys (45.1). The performance of Lancashire-12 boys was similar to the comparators and above Blackpool (36.1).
- In Lancashire-12 the average attainment 8 score of SEN pupils (27.4) was significantly lower than non-SEN pupils (50.7), with an average score gap of 23.2
- The average attainment 8 score of Lancashire-12 CLA pupils was 22.6. This was higher than each of the comparator group's performance. Lancashire-12 were placed in the 2nd quartile nationally and ranked 43 out of 143 Authorities
- Although Lancashire-12 has consistently improved over the past few years at the end of KS4, there are some groups of pupils that are still under performing due to deprivation, circumstances and needs
Interactive report
Source: Department for Education Data files: 2122_lachar_data_revised.csv & 2122_lad_pr_data_revised.csv. Breakdowns by FSM, SEN and gender are from 2122_lachar_data_revised.csv and do not go down to district level. The overall Attainment 8 and Progress 8 scores for Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool are in both files and are different, so for these unitary authorities we have used the figures from 2122_lachar_data_revised.csv throughout.
Key findings for the Lancashire-14 area
Finalised data for GCSE's suggests during 2021/22, the average Attainment 8 score per pupil for Lancashire (47.6) was lower than the England (48.9) but higher than the North West (47.2), Blackburn with Darwen (46.8) and Blackpool (38.0) scores.
The average Progress 8 score per pupil for Lancashire-12 (-0.13) was higher than the Blackpool (-0.87) and North West (-0.16) scores but lower than those of England (-0.03) and Blackburn with Darwen (0.0). Lancashire-12 pupils and the comparator areas were making below average progress, apart from Blackburn with Darwen, where average progress was made.
Analysis of the results by Lancashire-12 districts (in Figure 1) shows that the attainment of pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 was mainly higher in areas with low levels of deprivation. The average Attainment 8 scores for pupils in Ribble Valley (48.7), Wyre (49.5), Chorley (50.3), South Ribble (52.1) and Lancaster (55.5) were higher than Lancashire-12, North West and England averages. Attainment in areas with higher levels of deprivation was lower and was particularly low in Burnley (39.6), Pendle (41.6) and Hyndburn (44.7).
Figure 2 shows the Progress 8 scores for districts as well as upper-tier authorities, with confidence intervals. From these we see that Chorley, Lancaster, Ribble-Valley, South Ribble and Blackburn with Darwen were not significantly different from the target score of 0. Preston was significantly above, while Lancashire-12, the remaining districts and comparators were significantly below.
Attainment and free school meals
It has been noted previously that educational attainment at district level is linked to deprivation. However, deprivation isn’t limited by district council boundaries. Many pupils will encounter deprivation despite living in districts with low levels of deprivation overall and this can impact on their prospects. Historically the results at KS4 reveals a significant difference in attainment levels between those pupils who are eligible for free school meals (FSM) and those who are not.
During 2021/22, the average attainment 8 scores of FSM pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 in Lancashire-12 (34.5) was lower than that of non-FSM pupils (50.8). In fact, the Lancashire-12 FSM pupil's average score was lower when compared with the England (37.0). The average score of Lancashire-12 was higher than Blackpool (29.7) but lower than the North West (35.6) and Blackburn with Darwen (38.9).
The percentage gap between FSM and non-FSM was wider for Lancashire-12 (+16.3) than each of the other comparator groups. The Lancashire-12 non-FSM pupil performance (50.8) was higher than each of the comparator groups except England (52.0), and was the same for the North West (50.8).
Attainment and gender
As at other key stages, girls tend to perform better than boys in GCSE examinations. The average attainment 8 scores of girls at the end of Key Stage 4 in Lancashire-12 (50.4) was higher than that of boys (45.1). The performance of Lancashire-12 boys was similar to the comparators and above Blackpool (36.1).
Attainment and special educational needs
There is a large gap between the attainment of pupils with statements of special educational needs (SEN) or education, health and care plan (EHC) and non-SEND (Special Educational Need and Disability) pupils. In 2021/22 at KS4, the attainment gap remained large within Lancashire-12 with the average attainment 8 score of SEND pupils (27.4) significantly lower than non-SEND pupils (50.7), with an average score gap of 23.2. The performance of Lancashire-12 SEND pupils is however above the neighbouring unitary comparators as highlighted in Table 5.
Attainment and children looked after
The educational attainment of children looked after is much lower than that of their peers. There are a number of factors that contribute to this. For example, there tends to be a higher prevalence of children with statements of special educational needs in the looked after population (around 30% in the looked after population nationally compared to around 3% in the general school age population). Another factor is that many of these children may have come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and as shown previously, attainment has strong links to deprivation. In 2021/22, at KS4 the average attainment 8 score of Lancashire-12 CLA pupils was 22.6. This was higher than each of the comparator group's performance. Lancashire-12 were placed in the 2nd quartile nationally and ranked 43 out of 143 Authorities.
Table 6: GCSE attainment of CLA pupils, average attainment 8 scores 2021/22
| Area | Lancashire-12 | Blackburn with Darwen | Blackpool | North West | England |
| Average attainment 8 score | 22.6 | 13.7 | 16.5 | 20.7 | 20.3 |
The Department for Education website provides statistics on key stage 4 results for recent years.
Page updated 29 June 2023