Understanding Attainment 8 and Progress 8

Attainment 8 is an average point score based on pupils’ best eight GCSE-level qualifications, with English and maths double-weighted under DfE rules.

Higher Attainment 8 means stronger average results for that cohort. It does not adjust for prior attainment.

Progress 8 estimates how much progress pupils made between the end of primary school and Key Stage 4, compared with pupils nationally with similar starting points.

A score around zero is broadly average progress. Positive scores indicate above-average progress; negative scores indicate below-average progress. Small differences are common and should be read with confidence intervals in the full DfE tables.

We also show the percentage of pupils achieving grade 5 or above (and sometimes grade 4 or above) in both English and maths. These are simpler headline thresholds parents often recognise.