Academy status for under-performing primary schools

Dear Mr McKay

Thank you for your recent email. A reply will be sent to you as soon as
possible. For information, the departmental standard for correspondence
received is that responses should be sent within 20 working days as you
are requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Your correspondence has been allocated the reference number 2011/0043495

Thank you.

Central Allocation Team

Public Communications Team

Tel: 0370 0002288
www.education.gov.uk

show quoted sections

Dear Mr McKay,
Thank you for your email dated 16 June 2011, in which you requested a copy
of the list of 200 underperforming schools and the local authorities in
which they are situated, in accordance with the Freedom of Information
Act.

I have dealt with your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
("the Act"). The Department is not releasing a list of the 200 primary
schools that have consistently under performed over the last five years,
and the local authority areas in which they are situated, because the
following exemption applies to the information you have requested:

Section 36(2)(c); certain information is exempt from disclosure if, in
the reasonable opinion of a qualified person, (in the case of government
departments, a Minister) disclosure of the information under the Act
"would be likely otherwise to prejudice the effective conduct of public
affairs".

While this exemption applies to your request for the national list of 200
primary schools below the floor standard that have consistently under
performed over the last five years, the Department does recognise the
importance of giving the public access to information on school
performance in their local area. Accordingly, I have included guidance on
how you can access this information on individual schools below, and how
to use it to assess whether a school is below the primary school floor
standard.

Accessing information on individual school performance

A comprehensive range of information on school performance is available
on the Department for Education website. The Performance Tables on the
website provide information on individual schools' performance, and can be
used to assess whether a particular school is below the `floor standard'
of expected school performance for 2008, 2009 and 2010. Prior to 2008 the
measure of performance included Science with English and maths. The floor
standards include both a measure of pupil attainment, and measures of the
progress that pupils make.

For primary schools, a school is below the floor-standard if, for its Key
Stage 2 results are:

o less than 60% of pupils at the end of Key Stage 2 (KS2) achieving
level 4 or above in English and maths; and
o below average (national median) percentage of pupils at the end of KS2
make expected progress in English (national median = 87%); and
o below average (national median) percentage of pupils at the end of KS2
making expected progress in maths (national median = 86%)

Please note that for the floor standard, a school must miss all three
measures to be below the floor standard. The primary Performance Tables
can found at: [1]http://www.education.gov.uk/performancet.... In order
to access performance data on individual schools, enter the school name
and local authority area. The Performance Tables also give year-on-year
comparisons for each school's results data, as well as contextual
information on pupil cohorts.

The Section 36(2)(c) exemption which applies to the national lists of
schools below the floor standard is a `qualified' exemption. As such, this
exemption requires the Department to complete a public interest test to
assess whether the balance of public interest lies in releasing the
information. After assessing the balance of public interests, the
Department has concluded that the public interest lies in not releasing
the national list of primary schools below the floor standard, that have
consistently under performed over the last five years, thereby protecting
schools from negative publicity which could detract their attention from
school improvement. In reaching this conclusion, the Department has taken
account of the fact that information on individual school performance is
already partially available on the Department's website, which helps to
serve the public interest in government transparency and openness.

I hope you find this response helpful. If you have any queries about this
letter, please contact me. Please remember to quote the reference number
above in any future communications.

If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled, you should
make a complaint to the Department by writing to me within two calendar
months of the date of this letter. Your complaint will be considered by
an independent review panel, who were not involved in the original
consideration of your request.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint to the
Department, you may then contact the Information Commissioner's Office.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Andrea Smith
SUPPORTING SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT DIVISION 3
[email address]
[2]www.education.gov.uk

Your correspondence has been allocated the reference number 2011/0043495.

show quoted sections

Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.education.gov.uk/performancet...
2. http://www.education.gov.uk/