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A level results

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Dear Blackburn College,

Recent information from Blackburn College states:
· 100% A-Level Pass Rate in 18 subjects
· 7% increase in A-Level A* to C grades
· 5% increase in A-Level A* and A grades
· 5% increase in A-Level A* to B grades

Some subject-specific successes of our A-Levels include:
• A-Level Media Studies – 100% A*-C Grades
• A-Level English Language & Literature – 100% A*-C Grades
• A-Level Further Maths – 100% A*-C Grades
• A-Level Geography – 33% A*-A Grades
• A-Level Government and Politics – 33% A*-A Grades
• A-Level Physics – 25% A*-A Grades
• A-Level Accounting – 23% A*-A Grades
• A-Level Chemistry – 20% A*- A Grades
• A-Level Mathematics – 20% A*- A Grades

Please provide the following information:
1. The calculation used in the term "pass rate" and is this "pass rate" reflected in the annual published information from the Department of Education for College provision?
2. 18 subjects have "100% pass rate". How many A level subjects were delivered in 2016/17 for this cohort?
3. 7% increase on A* - C grades. What is the previous figure this is based on?
4. 5% increase on A* - A grades. What is the % of these grades from the overall cohort volume?
5. What is the overall cohort volume for A level grades in 2016/17?
6. What is the grade split of each grade expressed as a % of the total cohort? Please include each grade, A*, A, B, C, D, E and U

If you are unable to fulfil the request or require clarity please let me know.

Yours faithfully,

Mike Ainsworth

Alison Alcroft, Blackburn College

1 Attachment

Message sent on behalf of Jennifer Eastham, Vice Principal (Finance and
Corporate Services)

Dear Mike Ainsworth

Thank you for your email below dated 18 August 2017.

Your request comes under the Freedom of Information Act and as such we
will review your request and reply to you within 20 working day by 19
September 2017, as per the requirements of the FoI Act.

Many Thanks

Alison

Alison Alcroft

PA to Jennifer Eastham - Vice Principal  - Finance and Corporate Services

PA to Nicola Clayton - Director of Business Development and External
Engagement

Blackburn College

Feilden Street

Blackburn

Lancashire

BB2 1LH

 

Tel:    01254 292906

Email: [1][email address]

 

[2]cid:image003.jpg@01D2D301.43AB8D30

 

From: The Hub <[3][Blackburn College request email]>
Date: 21 August 2017 at 11:50:06 BST
To: Jennifer Eastham <[4][email address]>
Subject: FW: Freedom of Information request - A level results

Hi Jennifer

Please can you assist with this email to the address below:

[5][FOI #426120 email]

Kind Regards

Clare
The Hub

Alison Alcroft, Blackburn College

1 Attachment

Message sent on behalf of Jennifer Eastham, Vice Principal (Finance and
Corporate Services)

 

Dear Mike Ainsworth,

 

To ensure that we are able to respond to your request, we would like
further clarification in respect of question one in your email below.

 

Please can you provide a web link to the “pass rate” reflected in the
annual published information from the Department of Education for College
provision which you are referring to? Or provide a copy of the report.

 

We await your response.

 

Many Thanks

Alison

 

Alison Alcroft

PA to Jennifer Eastham - Vice Principal  - Finance and Corporate Services

PA to Nicola Clayton - Director of Business Development and External
Engagement

Blackburn College

Feilden Street

Blackburn

Lancashire

BB2 1LH

 

Tel:    01254 292906

Email: [1][email address]

 

[2]cid:image003.jpg@01D2D301.43AB8D30

 

 

From: Alison Alcroft
Sent: 21 August 2017 14:36
To: '[FOI #426120 email]'
Subject: FW: Freedom of Information request - A level results

 

Message sent on behalf of Jennifer Eastham, Vice Principal (Finance and
Corporate Services)

Dear Mike Ainsworth

Thank you for your email below dated 18 August 2017.

Your request comes under the Freedom of Information Act and as such we
will review your request and reply to you within 20 working day by 19
September 2017, as per the requirements of the FoI Act.

Many Thanks

Alison

Alison Alcroft

PA to Jennifer Eastham - Vice Principal  - Finance and Corporate Services

PA to Nicola Clayton - Director of Business Development and External
Engagement

Blackburn College

Feilden Street

Blackburn

Lancashire

BB2 1LH

 

Tel:    01254 292906

Email: [3][email address]

 

[4]cid:image003.jpg@01D2D301.43AB8D30

 

From: The Hub <[5][Blackburn College request email]>
Date: 21 August 2017 at 11:50:06 BST
To: Jennifer Eastham <[6][email address]>
Subject: FW: Freedom of Information request - A level results

Hi Jennifer

Please can you assist with this email to the address below:

[7][FOI #426120 email]

Kind Regards

Clare
The Hub

Dear Alison Alcroft,

The link to one source of the "pass rate" defined by the DfE and their executive agencies is

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...

Yours sincerely,

Mike Ainsworth

Alison Alcroft, Blackburn College

1 Attachment

Message sent on behalf of Jennifer Eastham, Vice Principal – Finance and
Corporate Services

 

Dear Mike Ainsworth

 

Thank you for clarifying the information concerning the pass rates.

 

I am pleased to confirm our response is as follows:

 

1.       The way in which Blackburn College has calculated the pass rate
is by the total of students who achieved A* - E against the overall
cohort.  The DofE use the A* - E grade to calculate the scores in the
national performance tables.

2.       A total of 26 subjects were delivered in 2016/17 for A Levels.

3.       The A*-C grade pass rate for 2015/16 was 62.2%.

4.       The overall percentage for A*-A grades in A Levels for 2016/17
was 12.3%

5.       The total cohort of A Level learners in 2016/17 was 317.

6.       The grade split for A Levels in 2016/17 is as follows:

a.       A* = 2.8%

b.      A = 9.5%

c.       B = 20.2%

d.      C = 36.3%

e.      D = 20.5%

f.        E = 7.9%

g.       U = 2.8%

 

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request or would like to
request an internal review of our response, please write to:

 

Vice Principal – Finance and Corporate Services

Blackburn College

Feilden Street

Blackburn

BB2 1LH

Email: [1][email address]

 

You can also obtain further information from the Information Commissioner
at:

 

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF 
Tel:   0303 123 1113
Website: [2]www.ico.gov.uk

Enquiries: [3]https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Alison Alcroft

PA to Jennifer Eastham - Vice Principal  - Finance and Corporate Services

PA to Nicola Clayton - Director of Business Development and External
Engagement

Blackburn College

Feilden Street

Blackburn

Lancashire

BB2 1LH

 

Tel:    01254 292906

Email: [4][email address]

 

[5]cid:image003.jpg@01D2D301.43AB8D30

 

 

Dear Alison Alcroft,

Thank you for the information which is acceptable with the exception of the information provided for point 1. The information provided by the College is:

1.       The way in which Blackburn College has calculated the pass rate
is by the total of students who achieved A* - E against the overall cohort.  The DofE use the A* - E grade to calculate the scores in the national performance tables.

In the first instance for the point of clarity, which may affect the response provided, the executive agency of the government is the Department for Education. The Department of Education, and its methodologies, ceased in 2010 to be replaced by DCSF, in turn replaced by the DfE. The current information from the DfE to calculate a pass rate for college provision is:

The overall pass rate is calculated as the number of learning aims that have been achieved as a percentage of the total number of learning aims that have completed all the planned learning activities.

The pass rate calculated by Blackburn College in the context of the response does not meet this criteria from the DfE.

Can you clarify that the College are using the DfE calculation? If so, the information provided will be published by the DfE in due course for the 2016/17 academic year, is this correct? Alternatively if the College are calculating using a different methodology please confirm what the methodology is and how that answers the original request please for point 1.

I await clarification on the points raised.

Yours sincerely,

Mike Ainsworth

Dear Alison Alcroft,

Hello, can you let me know that you have received the request for clarity on point one of the request please?

Yours sincerely,

Mike Ainsworth

Alison Alcroft, Blackburn College

Dear Mike Ainsworth,

Please accept my apologies. I can confirm that your request for clarity has been received.

The information is being checked and once this has been confirmed we will send you our response.

Yours sincerely,

Alison

Alison Alcroft
PA to Jennifer Eastham - Vice Principal - Finance and Corporate Services
PA to Nicola Clayton - Director of Business Development and External Engagement
Blackburn College
Feilden Street
Blackburn
Lancashire
BB2 1LH

Tel: 01254 292906
Email: [email address]

Alison Alcroft, Blackburn College

Message sent on behalf of Jennifer Eastham, Vice Principal – Finance and
Corporate Services

 

Dear Mike Ainsworth,

Thank you for your email asking for clarity in respect of the information
provided for point 1. I can confirm that this was an error on my part in
checking the response before sending. The information provided should have
referred to the DfE and not DofE as previously stated. I have provided the
corrected response below.

 

I can also confirm that the calculation used for pass rates used by
Blackburn College is as per the DfE guidelines; the total learning aims
achieved, divided by the total completed planned learning activities. This
is also evidenced by the use of ProAchieve at the College, which is a
sector wide software package that calculates Achievement, Retention and
Pass rates using the DfE methodology.

 

1.       The way in which Blackburn College has calculated the pass rate
is by the total of students who achieved A* - E against the overall
cohort.  The DfE use the A* - E grade to calculate the scores in the
national performance tables.

 

2.       A total of 26 subjects were delivered in 2016/17 for A Levels.

 

3.       The A*-C grade pass rate for 2015/16 was 62.2%.

 

4.       The overall percentage for A*-A grades in A Levels for 2016/17
was 12.3%

 

5.       The total cohort of A Level learners in 2016/17 was 317.

 

6.       The grade split for A Levels in 2016/17 is as follows:

 

a.       A* = 2.8%

 

b.      A = 9.5%

 

c.       B = 20.2%

 

d.      C = 36.3%

 

e.      D = 20.5%

 

f.        E = 7.9%

 

g.       U = 2.8%

 

Many Thanks

Alison

 

Alison Alcroft

PA to Jennifer Eastham - Vice Principal  - Finance and Corporate Services

PA to Nicola Clayton - Director of Business Development and External
Engagement

Blackburn College

Feilden Street

Blackburn

Lancashire

BB2 1LH

 

Tel:    01254 292906

Email: [1][email address]

 

 

We don't know whether the most recent response to this request contains information or not – if you are Mike Ainsworth please sign in and let everyone know.