Academy refutes 'unfair' league table stats
Thursday, 24th January 2013.
A Haverhill academy has refuted its latest league table results and recalculated them based on what it calls the 'unfair' changing of grade boundaries during 2012.
Castle Manor Academy is claiming a figure of 48 per cent of Year 11 students achieving the government benchmark of 5 or more GCSEs at grade A*-C including English and Maths.
These students have all gone on to other courses in the sixth form at Castle Manor or in colleges further afield.
The league tables published yesterday show a headline figure of 40 per cent, but these tables do not include some key information, the academy says.
This year’s summer examinations were dogged by national accusations of unfair play on the part of Ofqual who were alleged to have changed grade boundaries on some GCSE qualifications meaning that students taking summer exams were at an unfair disadvantage.
The academy claims this change means that in reality it can, and does, celebrate the valid success of 48 per cent of students that achieved five or more A*-C grades including English and Maths.
Principal Madeleine Vigar reflected on the heartache this had caused for students and the frustration it caused for an Academy Trust that had a proven track record of improving education in Haverhill over the last ten years.
She said: “When the results were published we knew immediately that there were 26 students that had earned a grade C, who hadn’t been awarded it.
"We knew their module marks and we knew what their controlled assessments (coursework) were worth earlier in the year. These students have suffered and that is fundamentally unfair.”
Students have since been able to retake the exam and have proven that they did deserve the grade.
“The 48 per cent figure is based on those 26 students doing controlled assessment again in November and proves they deserved the grade in the first place,” said Ms Vigar.
The past twelve months have been an exciting period for the Castle Partnership Academy Trust as it became the first All Through Academy Chain in the East of England and made formal the successful partnership it has been operating under for the last two years.
The conversion saw Place Farm Primary Academy become the first primary phase academy in Haverhill and achieve impressive KS2 SATs results, as reported recently.
Ms Vigar said a positive atmosphere existed at Place Farm every day.
She said:“The staff and pupils at Place Farm have never doubted their ability to succeed. The atmosphere around the academy is very positive and encouraging and we’re now starting to see the positive effects of All Through Learning in action."
The recent KS2 league tables put Place Farm Primary Academy at the top of the list of Haverhill schools, with 82 per cent achieving the national benchmark of Level 4 or higher in English and Maths. This exceeded the Suffolk average of 74 per cent.
The Castle Partnership says it is looking to the future and how it can continue to improve education and achieve high standards.
It currently has a free school application in with the DfE for an SEBD Alternative Provision in Haverhill. This school would cater for students that are at risk of exclusion and aims to keep them in education, rather than giving up on them.
Castle Manor Academy is claiming a figure of 48 per cent of Year 11 students achieving the government benchmark of 5 or more GCSEs at grade A*-C including English and Maths.
These students have all gone on to other courses in the sixth form at Castle Manor or in colleges further afield.
The league tables published yesterday show a headline figure of 40 per cent, but these tables do not include some key information, the academy says.
This year’s summer examinations were dogged by national accusations of unfair play on the part of Ofqual who were alleged to have changed grade boundaries on some GCSE qualifications meaning that students taking summer exams were at an unfair disadvantage.
The academy claims this change means that in reality it can, and does, celebrate the valid success of 48 per cent of students that achieved five or more A*-C grades including English and Maths.
Principal Madeleine Vigar reflected on the heartache this had caused for students and the frustration it caused for an Academy Trust that had a proven track record of improving education in Haverhill over the last ten years.
She said: “When the results were published we knew immediately that there were 26 students that had earned a grade C, who hadn’t been awarded it.
"We knew their module marks and we knew what their controlled assessments (coursework) were worth earlier in the year. These students have suffered and that is fundamentally unfair.”
Students have since been able to retake the exam and have proven that they did deserve the grade.
“The 48 per cent figure is based on those 26 students doing controlled assessment again in November and proves they deserved the grade in the first place,” said Ms Vigar.
The past twelve months have been an exciting period for the Castle Partnership Academy Trust as it became the first All Through Academy Chain in the East of England and made formal the successful partnership it has been operating under for the last two years.
The conversion saw Place Farm Primary Academy become the first primary phase academy in Haverhill and achieve impressive KS2 SATs results, as reported recently.
Ms Vigar said a positive atmosphere existed at Place Farm every day.
She said:“The staff and pupils at Place Farm have never doubted their ability to succeed. The atmosphere around the academy is very positive and encouraging and we’re now starting to see the positive effects of All Through Learning in action."
The recent KS2 league tables put Place Farm Primary Academy at the top of the list of Haverhill schools, with 82 per cent achieving the national benchmark of Level 4 or higher in English and Maths. This exceeded the Suffolk average of 74 per cent.
The Castle Partnership says it is looking to the future and how it can continue to improve education and achieve high standards.
It currently has a free school application in with the DfE for an SEBD Alternative Provision in Haverhill. This school would cater for students that are at risk of exclusion and aims to keep them in education, rather than giving up on them.
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