Summary
Progress 8 and Attainment 8 are secondary school performance measures used in England. Attainment 8 shows the average GCSE level points score across eight approved qualifications. Progress 8 estimates how much progress pupils made from the end of primary school to the end of Key Stage 4 compared with pupils nationally who had similar prior attainment.
Progress 8 is useful because it looks beyond raw results, but it still needs careful reading. A positive score suggests pupils made more progress than similar pupils nationally, while a negative score suggests less progress. It does not mean every child made or failed to make progress. Confidence intervals, pupil mix, cohort size and multi year trends matter, so buyers should not use one year of Progress 8 as a single school quality verdict.
Definition
Attainment 8 is the average points score across eight approved GCSE level qualifications. Progress 8 is a value added measure that compares pupils’ Attainment 8 outcomes with the national average for pupils who had similar prior attainment at the end of primary school.