School Data Re-visited

Have spent the last hour or so churning into the numbers and some concerning trends have been revealed which show just how stark the system of education we have in the Medway Towns has become.

Find below the breakdown of some key indicators which you may find interesting. I have picked three indicators which will become clear:

This is the sort of analysis a good researcher or analyst would undertake

This blog does not advocate any top-down re-organisation of our education system without the consent of parents; so I want to say at the outset that this is not a campaign pitch for the Comperehensive cause. I actually believe in good schools and do not want to tinker with any that work. I do however have a seething dislike for failure and as you would expect from someone of the centre-left; how it impacts those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Evidence

• Grammar Schools were the only schools to get above average GCSE results. All other publicly funded schools; whether comprehensive, secondary modern, community, academy or sponsered were below average performance
• The average cohort at grammar schools was 148 pupils. At other schools cohort was 195 (and that is including Rochester Independent College (ony 24 cohort so a statistical outlier). We know that those with smaller cohorts did better overall
• 72.5% of all pupils in Medway taking GCSEs attended schools that are below average performance.
• Grammar School pupils are on average wealthier then those at all other schools in the area if you take into account free school meal %. On average grammar school pupils (3.98%) v non grammar pupils (15.48%). From a social mobility perspective this is important.

Adding in the statistics from the Centre for Cities analysis which shows that Medway has noticeably poor education with only 22.8% with a higher qualification (ranking Medway 51/64 for same sized cities in UK) and 13.6% with no formal qualifications at all (43/64). How much of these same statistics are influenced by school performance? It is of note that on all the other indicators on the CfC analysis we performed above average.

This blog is not seeking a political outcome from the above points merely to point out some statistical realities. The decision for education in the area must be for its residents to decide.

Incidentally the above also highlights why anyone managing the education department in Medway Council has a very very tough job. Unlike in other areas our team have to work within a very difficult environment and context; one which you could argue is inherently skewed.