How we compare schools
What can be compared between schools, and what cannot.
Some school facts are measured the same way all over England. You can compare those between any two schools. Other facts are decided by each local council. If you compare those across a council border, you are comparing two different things. This page shows you which is which.
The same for every school in England
These come from one national set of data, with one meaning, used the same way everywhere. You can compare them between any two schools in England.
| What it is | What we use |
|---|---|
| Who applied, and who got a place | Numbers the Department for Education collects from every school. We show first preferences per place. That means: how many families put the school first, for each place it gave out. |
| How many families want a school | We show where a school sits among all the schools that take children at the same age, in the same year: for example, "higher than 8 out of 10 schools". We do not give schools a score. |
| Ofsted | Ofsted's own monthly list. Ofsted has changed the way it grades schools more than once, so we always say which set of rules was used. |
| Exam results | Department for Education results for GCSEs and for tests at the end of primary school. We show the figure for the whole year group only. |
| Teachers leaving | The School Workforce Census, counted in full-time jobs. |
Decided by each council
These differ from one council to the next. We show what each council published, name the council, and never convert one council's figures into another's terms.
| What it is | Why you cannot compare it |
|---|---|
| Catchment areas | Some councils draw a map showing which streets belong to which school. Others do not draw one at all, and give places to whoever lives nearest. If we show no map for a school, that does not mean you live outside its area. It means no map for that school has been published in a form we can use. |
| How places were shared out | When a school runs out of places, one rule decides who gets the last one. It might be living in the catchment, living close by, having a brother or sister there, going to a church, or drawing lots. Each council picks its own rules. |
| How far the last place reached | Some councils publish how far away the last child lived who got a place. Only the council holds the addresses behind it, so we show it only where the council has published it. |
| How distance is measured | Some councils measure in a straight line. Others measure along the roads you would walk. The same number can mean two different distances, so we write down which one was used and never compare one with the other. |
Rules we follow everywhere
- A blank is not a nought.
- When a group of children is very small, the government hides the number so that nobody can work out who they are. We show a dash. A dash never means zero.
- The whole year group, not one part of it.
- Results get published in lots of slices: boys and girls, richer and poorer, and more. We only show the whole year group. Comparing one school's slice with another school's whole year group would give you the wrong idea.
- An estimate comes with its range.
- Some scores are worked out from a small number of pupils, so they come with a range showing how sure we can be. If that range crosses the middle, the school is not clearly above or below average, and we say so.
- Teacher numbers count jobs, not people.
- A teacher who works half the week counts as half. So these numbers are not a headcount of the people in the staff room.
- A postcode is not a house.
- We place an address at the middle of its postcode. If that middle point is within 50 metres of a boundary line, we say so, because your actual house could be on the other side of it.
- You can be in more than one catchment.
- Some areas overlap. This happens a lot with church school areas, because they follow parish borders instead of fitting neatly together. Where areas overlap, we name the others.
- We report. We do not predict.
- Nothing here works out whether your child will get a place. Wanting is not the same as getting in. A school can be very popular and still have room for every child who lives in its catchment.
Using this information
This is information only, not advice. It may have mistakes in it, or be out of date. Check with the school and the council before you decide anything. Every figure comes from an official publication and says where, but copying and matching records can go wrong. Check anything you rely on with the school and the council. More about using this information.
When we are not sure, we say so
Some issues need a person to review them: an area map joined to the wrong school, a published number that does not add up, or a map pin that does not match the school's postcode. Until they are resolved, they are marked on the page they affect.
What data we hold · Found something wrong? Tell us.