How to read a school league table without being misled
Edroom · Explainer · Evidence unless marked "Our take"
League tables are useful, and easy to misread. Here's what the main measures mean and what to check before you compare one school with another, using DfE's own guidance.
Attainment 8: what pupils achieved
"Attainment 8 measures pupils' attainment across 8 qualifications". These include maths (double-weighted), English (double-weighted if both English language and English literature are sat), three qualifications in sciences, history or geography, or languages, and "3 further qualifications that can be any GCSE qualification or technical award from the DfE-approved list". DfE secondary guide
It's a measure of results, not of progress. On its own, it tells you nothing about pupils' starting points.
Progress 8: progress compared with similar pupils
"Progress 8 aims to capture the progress that pupils make from the end of primary school to the end of KS4. It is a type of value-added measure, which means that pupils' results are compared to other pupils nationally with similar prior attainment." DfE secondary guide
This year's tables: no new Progress 8
There's no new Progress 8 for 2025/26. DfE will "continue to show the most recent available Progress 8 scores (2023 to 2024 and 2022 to 2023)". Progress 8 returns in 2026/27. DfE secondary guide
Don't treat those two years as a trend. "Progress 8 is a relative, in-year measure and cannot be compared directly year on year." DfE secondary guide
EBacc measures have also been removed from 2025/26. DfE secondary guide
Small cohorts: read the confidence interval
DfE says: "The results of schools with a small cohort tend to have wider confidence intervals. This reflects the fact that the performance of a small number of pupils taking their KS4 exams can have a disproportionate effect on the school's overall results." It also says: "School scores should be interpreted alongside their associated confidence intervals." DfE secondary guide
Why some figures are missing (secondary)
For secondary schools, DfE says: "Figures are suppressed if the school has 5 or fewer pupils included in the cohort. This applies to sub-groups of pupils as well as the whole cohort." DfE secondary guide
A Progress 8 score is also "suppressed if fewer than 50% of pupils at the end of KS4 are included in the measure". DfE secondary guide
A blank cell isn't a zero, and it isn't a bad result.
Primary tables (KS2)
KS1 to KS2 progress measures are back. DfE says: "It is possible to return to producing key stage 1 (KS1) to KS2 progress measures for academic years 2025 to 2026 and 2026 to 2027." They weren't produced for 2023/24 or 2024/25 because there was no relevant KS1 data. DfE primary guide
DfE will publish revised school-level KS2 data for 2025/26 in December 2026. DfE primary guide
The primary rules differ from the secondary ones, so don't assume the secondary suppression rule above applies to KS2. Check the primary technical guide.
Context: disadvantage and SEND
Raw results reflect intake as well as teaching. DfE measures the gap in national average Attainment 8 scores between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils at KS4. It was 15.4 points in 2023/24 and 15.5 in 2024/25. DfE's target is to halve it, to 7.7 points. DfE schools white paper
That's why Edroom's tables show cohort size, disadvantage and SEND beside every ranking.
Before you compare two schools
- Check cohort size and the confidence interval before you rank by Progress 8.
- Look at disadvantage and SEND beside the results.
- Don't compare Progress 8 across years.
- Treat blanks as suppressed figures, not zeros.
Opinion
Our take: A league table position is a starting question, not a verdict. Rankings without context mislead, especially for small schools and schools serving very different communities. Use the tables to ask better questions about why results differ, not to settle arguments.