Understanding GCSE Results: Attainment 8 and Progress 8

If you’ve looked at any English secondary school’s data, you’ll have seen two numbers labelled Attainment 8 and Progress 8, plus a row called EBacc. They look technical, but each one tells you something different about how the school is doing - and which one matters most depends on the question you’re asking.

How GCSE grades work today

The familiar A* - G grading system was replaced in 2017 with 9 - 1 in England (Wales and Northern Ireland kept letters). On the new scale:

• 9 is the new top grade, slightly harder to get than an A*
• 7 is roughly equivalent to an A
• 5 is a "strong pass"
• 4 is a "standard pass"
• 1 is the lowest awarded grade; U means ungraded

This matters because the headline measures (Attainment 8, basics 9-5) are calculated from this 9 - 1 scale.

Attainment 8

Attainment 8 is the average grade across 8 specific subjects, scored out of 90 (because each subject contributes up to 10 points and English and Maths are weighted double).

The 8 subjects are:

• English (counted twice if both Language and Literature are taken)
• Maths (counted twice)
• 3 EBacc subjects (Sciences, Computer Science, History, Geography or a Language)
• 3 further GCSEs or approved equivalents

A national average is around 45 - 47 for state schools. Selective grammars typically score 70+; non-selective schools vary from low 30s to high 60s.

Real example

Wilson's School

Wallington, Sutton

Wilson’s School (a Sutton grammar) - one of the highest Attainment 8 scores in England, reflecting a fully selective intake.

Attainment 8 (2024/25)

86.7

View school

Progress 8

Progress 8 is the more sophisticated measure. It compares each pupil’s GCSE results to what would be expected given their prior attainment at the end of primary school (KS2).

The score is centered around zero:

• 0 means pupils did about as well as expected - the national average
• +0.5 means pupils did half a grade better, on average, than similar pupils nationwide - a strong school
• -0.5 means pupils did half a grade worse - a struggling school
• +1.0 and above is exceptional and very rare

A real example showing why this matters:

Real example

Seven Kings School

Ilford, Redbridge

Seven Kings School in Redbridge - a non-selective comprehensive whose Progress 8 score is among the highest in England, even though Attainment 8 is around average.

Progress 8 (2023/24)

1.12

View school

This is the kind of school you’d miss if you only looked at Attainment 8 league tables.

EBacc

The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) isn’t a qualification - it’s a subject combination. A pupil "takes the EBacc" if they sit GCSEs in:

• English
• Maths
• Two Sciences (Combined Science counts as two)
• A humanity (History or Geography)
• A Modern or Ancient Language

Schools report two EBacc figures:

• EBacc entry % - how many pupils took the full set
• EBacc 9-5 % or 9-4 % - how many of those passed it

The Department for Education has been pushing schools toward higher EBacc entry. Schools with low entry rates aren’t necessarily worse, but they may be steering pupils toward easier qualifications, which is worth understanding.

Other measures worth knowing

• Basics 9-5 % - the percentage of pupils achieving grade 5 or better in both English and Maths. A blunt but widely-cited figure.
• Pupils included - the cohort size used in the calculation. Be cautious comparing schools where one figure covers 30 pupils and another covers 250.
• Disadvantaged-pupil progress - the same metrics broken out for pupils on Pupil Premium. A school where disadvantaged pupils make similar progress to their peers is doing genuinely equitable work.

How to read the numbers together

Different combinations tell different stories:

| Attainment 8 | Progress 8 | What it suggests | |---|---|---| | High (70+) | High (+0.5+) | Selective intake, doing well with it | | High (70+) | Around 0 | Selective intake, coasting | | Average (45) | High (+0.5+) | Comprehensive doing exceptional work | | Average (45) | Negative | Comprehensive falling behind | | Low (35) | Positive | Disadvantaged intake, but the school is lifting it | | Low (35) | Negative | Major concerns - look at the Ofsted report |

A note on independent schools and IGCSE

Many independent schools sit IGCSEs (international GCSEs) instead of GCSEs. IGCSE results are not included in the DfE’s Attainment 8 / Progress 8 calculation. This is why some elite independents show very low Attainment 8 in our data even though their pupils are highly attaining - the metric simply doesn’t capture them.

We flag IGCSE-using schools where we can detect the pattern, but always read the school’s own reported results alongside the league table.

Where to next

• Read Ofsted Inspections Explained for the qualitative counterpart.
• Read Catchment Areas Explained if a high-performing school has caught your eye and you want to know your chances.

Try it on FavSchools

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Compare every secondary in England by Attainment 8, Progress 8 and EBacc - filter to your area first.

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