1. Educational Standards Cabinet January 2012

2. Early Years Performance  The percentage of pupils achieving the target expectations in the Early Years Foundation Stage reached 63%, an increase of 4.8% points on the previous year.  Croydon is outperforming the average for statistical neighbours (SN). The percentage of children judged to be achieving a good level of development (78+ points in total and 6+ in PSE and CLL) is above and improving at a faster rate than the SN average.  The percentage gap between the median (middle score 92) and the bottom 20% is 28.4 – a reduction of 3 percentage points compared to last year (31.4): our children are closing the gap in education between the highest and lowest performers.  The ‘narrowing the gap’ data also shows Croydon has a narrower gap and is reducing the gap at a faster rate than our statistical neighbours.

3. 3.1 EARLY YEARS FOUNDATION STAGE Source: Croydon data is from KEYPAS and National data is from DFE Published Data % achieving target expectations Gap between average and low performers

4. Key Stage 2 Performance  The trend in KS2 results in Croydon has mirrored the national performance at Level 4+ in English and in mathematics.  Comparisons with statistical neighbours show that Croydon’s Key Stage 2 results for 2011 are above the statistical neighbour average in English, reading and writing at Level 4+.  The percentage of pupils in Croydon achieving Level 4+ in writing has improved by 7% points since 2009 as improving writing has been a key area of focus.  Every school receiving significant levels of Local Authority support over the academic year had improved results and none of the supported schools were below the floor standards.

5. Key Stage 2 English & Maths 2007 2008 200920102011 Croydon69.0%72.0%73.0%74.0% SN Average68.0%72.0%71.0%74.0% National71.0%73.0%72.0%73.0%74.0% % of pupils achieving level 4 or above % of pupils achieving Level 4 or above in English & Maths 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0% 80.0% 2007 2008 200920102011 CroydonNationalSN Average

6. Performance of specific groups at KS2 (Level 4+ En & Ma)  Pupils eligible for free school meals attained 62% against 58% nationally. We are closing the gap between this group and those pupils not eligible for free school meal. It has narrowed from 23% in 2010 to 15% in 2011 (below the national gap).  Almost all ethnic groups performed well in relation to the national averages for the same group. Asian pupils performed particularly well, with 82% attaining combined English and mathematics at Level 4+ against 75% nationally. The only ethnic group performing below the national average was White pupils (2% points below the national position).  Pupils whose first language is not English performed very well, with 77% attainment against 72% for the same group nationally.  Pupils with special educational needs but without a statement performed well against national, with 40% attainment against 38% nationally.

7. Key Stage 4 Performance  At GCSE, Croydon’s results have risen from below national average in 2007 to well above national average in 2011.  At 86.6%, the percentage of students attaining 5+ A*-C grades shows an improvement of 3.7% points on 2010.  At 60.3%, the percentage of students attaining 5+ A*-C grades including English and mathematics shows an improvement of 5.9% points on 2010 against an improvement nationally of 2.7% points.  Comparisons with statistical neighbours show that Croydon’s GCSE results in 2011 are well above the averages for our statistical neighbours in 5+ A*-C grades and 5+ A*-C grades including English and mathematics.  The majority of schools in the borough achieved their best ever results in 2011. All academies show a 5 year upward trend

9. Post-16  The Average Point Score per entry shows Croydon post-16 learners achieve slightly higher points per examination entry than average (220 compared to 212) (equivalent to a grade C).  More candidates achieve 2 or more passes than nationally (95.7 compared to 92.2). This includes A-E passes at A level and distinctions, merits and passes in vocational subjects.

10. Post-16 Average Point Score per entry

11. Attendance  Croydon reduced secondary persistent absence levels to 4.1% in 2010/11 and has more than met the national 5% target set for 2011.  Primary overall absence has significantly reduced from 6.6% in 2002/03 to 5.5% in 2010/11.  Overall absence in 2010/11 is better than the statistical neighbour average.  Croydon has achieved significant improvements in reducing secondary overall absence from 8.92% in 2002/03 to 6.06% in 2010/11 and this is (0.46% points) better than the national average, and better than the average for similar areas (statistical neighbours).

12. Borough performance in persistent absence trends

13. Exclusions  There has been a downward trend in Croydon’s exclusion rate over the last five years.  In the primary phase there was significant improvement. Primary permanent exclusions were reduced by nearly half in 2010-11, from 16 (in 2009-10) to 9.  However, last academic year there was a slight increase in overall permanent exclusions. This is attributable to a significant increase in permanent exclusions (17 permanent exclusions) from a single school opened as a new school in September 2010.

14. OfSTED Inspection Profile  Upward trend in % of primary and secondary schools judged to be good or better by OFSTED: Between July 2010 and December 2011, the percentage of primary schools has risen from 57% to 63% and secondary schools from 56% to 79%  There has been a reduction in recent months in the number of schools in an OfSTED category. In 2011, 3 schools have come out of a category of concern and are now judged to be satisfactory; only 2 primary schools remain in OFSTED categories of concern and both are making appropriate progress

15. Executive Summary  Standards of Attainment in Croydon’s schools and settings continue to rise.  Croydon’s children and young people performed well in absolute terms in 2011 and also compared to similar local authorities.  In 2011 many schools secured their best ever results.  School attendance has improved further.  Croydon is not complacent and officers are working in partnership with schools and settings to drive up standards even further.  All those working in education in Croydon can be proud of what has been achieved so far.