§ Stephen HesfordTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has for primary school league tables. [115068]
§ Mr. MilibandOur plans for primary schools performance tables are discussed in detail in two recent publications: Consultation on Publication of School and College Performance Tables in 2003 and Excellence and Enjoyment—A Strategy for Primary Schools. Immediate changes which we intend to introduce this year (subject to consultation) are
the addition of a Key Stage 1 (KS1) to Key Stage 2 (KS2) value added (VA) measure which will show progress schools help pupils make relative to their different starting points; andthe separate reporting of the percentage of pupils achieving Level 5 in KS2 English, maths, and science, showing the extent to which schools help pupils reach above the level expected by the end of KS2.But we recognise that more needs to be done in terms of improving and refining the information in the tables and are exploring further possible changes for the future. Views on some proposals on how the tables might better reflect a schools performance are sought and discussed in the primary document and include:
extending and refining the coverage of VA calculations to include the use of P Scales so as to include the achievements of pupils working below the level assessed by the National Curriculum tests;the possibility of omitting certain defined categories of pupils with special educational needs from the tables—such as those with severe or profound and multiple learning difficulties;a means of reflecting the breadth and richness of schools curriculum, or the extent to which they are inclusive, for example, by publishing the headline judgements from recent Ofsted reports on schools; andexploring the possibility of offering more information allowing comparisons against schools in similar circumstances.