Updated: DfE consultation on 16-19 accountability measures

On 27 March 2014, the Department for Education (DfE) published the government response to the 16-19 accountability consultation for England announced in September 2013.

Designed to support the existing reforms to 16-19 education and training, the resulting changes to 16-19 accountability measures in England are broadly in line with the original proposals. They cover:

• performance measures
• minimum standards
• vocational qualifications at level 2
• recognising all student achievement
• work-based learning
• MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses).

You can read the full response on the DfE website.

Headlines from the key findings include:

• timing: the reforms will come into effect from September, with publication of results for 18-year-olds following in summer 2016.
• recognising student achievement and progression: the new measures will recognise the work schools and colleges do to support student progression, and will identify when a provider is underperforming and requires remedial action.
• publication of comprehensive performance information: clearer, more comprehensive information than ever before will show how schools and colleges are performing against expected levels of performance, including qualifications below level 3. This means students and parents will have reliable, consistent information to help them choose the best provider to support their ambitions.

Performance measures include:

• headline measures: new headline performance measures, which include progress, attainment, retention, destinations and progress in English and maths, will give a clear overview of school and college performance across academic and vocational qualifications, allowing a national comparison.
• comparison data: schools and colleges will publish these headline indicators in a standard format to ensure the data is clear for all audiences and easy to understand and interpret.
• additional measures: there will be a finer level of performance information available, giving a fuller picture of how each individual provider is performing.