Bay House School ranked best in the county for A-level pupil progress

A Gosport school has been recognised as the best performing in the whole of Hampshire in terms of improving pupils’ performance between GCSE and A-levels.
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Progress scores are the government’s benchmark for measuring a school or college’s academic success. Rather than raw outcomes they chart pupils’ progress from GCSEs to A-level results.

Bay House School Sixth Form achieved a progress score of 0.56 which means on average pupils, of the same pre-assessed academic ability attained more than half a grade higher than their peers nationally. The score placed the school the 12th best nationally for pupil progress.

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Headteacher Nigel Matthias said: ‘The breadth of this strong attainment and progress is truly staggering and the difference it will make to the lives of young people in Gosport should not be underestimated.

Bay House School Sixth Form students Oliver Lapworth, Alfie Barfield, Alfie Erskin and Niall Taylor celebrate receiving their A-level results last summer
Picture: Ian Hargreaves  (150819-1)Bay House School Sixth Form students Oliver Lapworth, Alfie Barfield, Alfie Erskin and Niall Taylor celebrate receiving their A-level results last summer
Picture: Ian Hargreaves  (150819-1)
Bay House School Sixth Form students Oliver Lapworth, Alfie Barfield, Alfie Erskin and Niall Taylor celebrate receiving their A-level results last summer Picture: Ian Hargreaves (150819-1)

‘I also want to acknowledge the exceptional work and quality of our staff team. As well as the exceptional quality of teaching, the level of pastoral support we provide to our students makes a real difference and I know that our sixth form continues to provide excellent support to students who are disadvantaged by their background.’

The school is part of the Gosport and Fareham Multi Academy Trust and chief executive, Ian Potter, feels the results are testament to a collaborative approach to learning. Mr Potter said: ‘To be among the very best sixth forms in the country is an incredible achievement and is a success in which our entire town can share. This is yet another example of how working in partnership as a community of local schools can produce exceptional outcomes.’

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The grades were the best ever achieved at the school with 90 per cent of students achieving A* to C grades and 70 per cent getting A* to B – comfortably exceeding the 76 per cent and 51 per cent attained nationally. The average grade achieved by students was a B- with an average subject points score of 37.79 (grade A* represents 56 points while a grade E constitutes 16).

Chief executive of the Gosport and Fareham Multi-academy Trust, Ian Potter Picture: Chris MoorhouseChief executive of the Gosport and Fareham Multi-academy Trust, Ian Potter Picture: Chris Moorhouse
Chief executive of the Gosport and Fareham Multi-academy Trust, Ian Potter Picture: Chris Moorhouse
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Head of sixth form Richard Dadd said: ‘When compared to other state schools and colleges with at least 100 students in their cohort, Bay House stands joint second in the country. This is clearly a remarkable achievement which reflects the incredible efforts of the students and the dedicated staff we have at our school.’

HOW DID OTHER SCHOOLS FARE?

Oaklands Catholic School was the only other of the region’s state schools to gain a positive progress score with an attainment of 0.03 and an average A level grade of C+. For A-level attainment all other providers were judged to be below average for student progress.

On average Portsmouth A-level students achieved a grade C, slightly below the national average of a C+ while across the county pupils were slightly above with an average attainment of a grade B-.

While progress scores at the city’s largest A-level provider, Portsmouth College, remained slightly below the national average with a score of -0.2, principal, Simon Barrable, was pleased at the continued upward trajectory of performance.

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Mr Barrable said: ‘We are delighted to be able to show still further improvement to the progress scores for our students across all the measures recently published by the Department for Education. Both our A-level and Applied General average points scores per student have increased again, for the second year in a row.

‘Our already very strong English and maths retake results have got even stronger this year. The results are a testament to the hard work and dedication of our staff and students.’

Commenting on the performance of Hampshire students the county council's executive member for education, Councillor Roz Chadd, said: ‘It’s fantastic to see that Hampshire’s A-level students build on the strong educational foundations developed at school, continuing to do better than many of their peers up and down the country. The average grade increased this year from C+ to B- and 12 per cent of Hampshire’s students achieved three A* to A grades.’

WHAT DO THE PROGRESS SCORES MEAN?

Schools and colleges are now primarily judged on the progress students make rather than simply on the grades they achieve.

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Progress scores indicate how much progress students made between the end of Year 11 and the end of their A-level studies. Progress scores are calculated by comparing students with similar national academic attainment in their GCSEs with what they then achieved in their A-levels.

A score of zero indicates that students on average made the same progress as students of similar ability nationwide. On a sliding scale, a score above zero means students made more progress on average than students across England who got similar results at the end of Year 11. A score below zero indicates students on average made less progress.

Colleges including UTC Portsmouth and Highbury only had a limited cohort of students studying traditional A-levels and so the progress score only provides a limited picture of its overall academic performance. The majority pupils here study more vocational level 3 diplomas which are not factored into A-level progress scores. Comparative progress data for these qualifications are due to be published in March.

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