I've been pondering value added scores today. Obviously a negative number is not good, but should a high positive number be a good thing? If a child has had a bad primary school education, then adding value in secondary school is definitely a good thing. But for those of us that have kids passing the 11+ that isn't the case for our kids. They have already had a good start.

A recent poster on our local forum talked about a school where the work was so intense and relentless that many children left as a consequence. This school also happens to have the highest value added in the region. Is this really what we want for our bright children? Is basing a school's success on a v high value added score really in our children's best interests? I would be interested to hear the thoughts of those more experienced than me...

Hi Glos18,

That’s an interesting question. I don’t think the high value-added score necessarily means relentless pressure though. DD’s GS has an above average progress 8 score but has a homework charter that seems to balance out the workload and give some respite. Holidays are kept work free (until GCSE revision kicks in) and there are no next night deadlines. There are regular topic tests but no busywork. And the KS3 years don’t have big exams. DD has been known to talk positively of all the homework her friends at independent schools get to do. I expect she’ll get over that.

PS

You need to drill down and look at the progress by prior attainment/other groups - that can tell an interesting story.

If children got 110+ at KS2 then they should get high GCSEs grades - it is better than the old system which just looked at raw results.