---
title: Analysing key stage 5 headline data by focus groups
description: GO 4 Schools
---
[Skip to content](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/analysing-key-stage-5-headline-data-by-focus-groups#main-content)
English - United Kingdom
Show submenu for translations
- Home
- Products
- Pricing
- Blog
- Company
Open main navigation
Close main navigation
- Home
- Products
- Pricing
- Blog
- Company
- English - United Kingdom
Show submenu for translations
- Contact us
Contact us
How can we help you?
- There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.
1. [GO 4 Schools](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular?hsLang=en-gb)
2. [Data Management](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/data-management?hsLang=en-gb)
# Analysing key stage 5 headline data by focus groups
We are often asked by schools which focus groups they should use for post 16 data analysis. This document aims to provide insight into how a school might analyse Key Stage 5 data in GO 4 Schools using specific focus groups. It doesn’t cover the mechanics of setting things up in detail. This document is not intended to be prescriptive. We recognise that all schools are different, and the patterns of use discussed below may not always be right for your school. To our knowledge, no school works **exactly** in the way described, but some/many of the points in this document may be useful for understanding data in more depth using GO 4 Schools.
### **Groups to consider**
Whilst this list is not exhaustive this hopefully will give you a good starting point to decide which groups you might use for your schools’ context.
Groups that will be covered in this area.
Most common
- Disadvantaged
- Bursary
- Ability Bands (to include ALPS Bands if using ALPS or KS4 APS bands such as those published in the IDSR)
- Destinations
- Categories for Retention
Other useful groups
- Year 11 School (Externals)
- Attendance Concerns
- Intervention/Mentoring
- Mental health
- Outlier group
### **Analysing headline data by focus groups**
By navigating to the Year group page there are two ways to view focus group sets against headline data.
#### **Looking at all focus groups associated with post 16**
You will be able to view all groups associated with Year 13 (or Year 12) as long as the [attributes](https://go4schools.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/80000793729-student-attributes) have values in them and they have been selected for **analysis of attainment data** and they are in an [attribute set](https://go4schools.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/80000794522-managing-student-attribute-sets).
Clicking on show/hide focus groups in the image above will give you a list of all performance measures in GO 4 Schools against all your focus groups (see below).
Note: In this example the Demographic: EAL attribute has three values including one blank (-). This is because there is one student who does not have a value. As this is a **system attribute** the value should be corrected in your MIS and which will then be reflected in GO 4 Schools after the next feed (normally the following day).
#### **Looking at a single focus group**
By selecting focus groups from the year group page (highlighted in red in the image on the previous page you will be given a list of attributes ordered by attribute sets.
****
By selecting focus groups from the year group page (highlighted in red in the image on the previous page you will be given a list of attributes ordered by attribute sets.
By selecting any of the attributes e.g. **Demographic: Disadvantaged** you will see the performance of this focus group against all the performance measures that GO 4 Schools provides. It is worth noting here that any figure highlighted in blue can be clicked on. Any measure which is a threshold measure will open a list of those students who met the measure and those who did not. All average measures will open an explorer view. This will give you a breakdown of individual student scores associated with that measure and allow you to drill down deeper into the data.
### **Common focus groups**
#### **Disadvantaged/bursary**
**Disadvantaged students** are those who were in receipt of pupil premium when they were in the last year of Key Stage 4. Their performance in 16-18 headline measures is compared to non-disadvantaged students in state-funded schools and colleges nationally. These learners are also highlighted in the 16-18 IDSR (Inspection data summary report) which OFSTED use to assess Post 16 performance. .
For tracking purposes, it is important to check that you have an accurate list of students who are disadvantaged. Schools often do not capture this information on entry if the student was not on roll at their school in Year 11. Schools should look in GIAP (Get Information About Pupils) to access student information. You should use the special attribute **Disadvantaged** to record this in GO 4 Schools.
Following the instruction in the previous section (Looking at a single focus group) this will produce a list of the performance of the disadvantaged cohort against the whole cohort and those students that are not disadvantaged. We have selected below a sample of the tables that appear. You may want to investigate this page in more detail to look at the tables that will be important for your school.
L3VA data is available for all three Level 3 cohorts (A Level, Academic and Applied General). By hovering on any of the figures in the table this will give you the overall progress score, the performance band and the confidence intervals (from the revised performance tables – see Appendix A of the [Sample Measures report document](https://demo.go4schools.com/schools/NC/Ashx/SupportOnlineResourceHandler.ashx?sorid=592&sorv=2)). All our data for L3VA is based on the 2019 Ready Reckoner.
### **Gap values**
When scrolling down further you can see the entries against grade type by which an A\*-B has been achieved. This is also shows a gap value. In the table below there are no students who are disadvantaged achieving an A\*-B based on their current grade and this demonstrates a gap value of 27.5%.
N.B. When every student has one of only two possible values in an attribute e.g. yes/no, red/blue a gap value will appear in the headline statistics when you are looking at a specific focus group in the year group page.
#### **Ability bands**
Use of ability bands are key to the analysis of Key Stage 4 data and are becoming more commonplace in 6th forms and colleges. This in part is because the 16-18 Inspection data summary report (IDSR) uses prior attainment bands as a means to generate statements on both positive and negative statements associated with these bands. A document explaining how GO 4 Schools can be used in conjunction with the IDSR which has reference to these bands can be found [here](https://demo.go4schools.com/schools/NC/Ashx/SupportOnlineResourceHandler.ashx?sorid=731&sorv=3).
Target setting software like ALPS and Oxford Analytics also provides bandings based on prior attainment ranges. Even if you do not use target setting software at Key Stage 5, ability bands based on your own criteria can be added in to GO 4 Schools to view performance against the key performance measures. Use custom attributes to create the appropriate ability bands for your school.
The schools that we work with that have used ability bands have found merit in this approach. This has meant that they have been able to see where performance at both Year group and departmental level of particular prior attainment groups has been positive or in need of intervention. The L3VA tables below shows performance in each of the ALPS bands and also by School constructed prior attainment.
#### **Destinations**
Destinations data has been growing in importance and will continue to do so as highlighted in the [DfE Statement of Intent 2018](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-and-college-performance-tables-statements-of-intent).
***“The government has been clear that we want to see students progressing to both university and higher level technical and vocational learning, including apprenticeships.”***
Whilst destinations data is published two years after a year group left the school (in the 16-18 IDSR), tracking prospective destinations over the two (or three years) in post 16 education can demonstrate the effort that the school made in preparing students for post 18 opportunities. Further information on how this measure works can be found in section 9.8 on page 51 of the [16 to 18 guidelines](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/819734/16-18_Accountability_Measures_Technical_Guide_July_2019.pdf).
Tracking these groups against assessment data can give a greater understanding of how groups of students with similar Destinations are performing. For example, schools have often seen under performance by students who have been given unconditional offers by Universities or have guaranteed employment or apprenticeship once they finish their 16-18 study.
This example has been achieved by creating a custom attribute.
#### **Categories for retention**
Retention is another key performance measure that schools are assessed on. By adding categories of retention into an attribute you can monitor the performance of students that are in an “at risk” group. This can help you to monitor students that are in danger of not completing the two years of their course. For example, you can see below that the five students in the **at risk** category have an average point score of 7 points in the Applied General cohort statistics averaging a **U** grade compared to **no concern** students averaging a **Merit** grade.
This example has been achieved by creating a custom attribute.
### **Other groups often useful for the analysis of headline data**
#### **Year 11 School**
Schools which have a significant number of students who come from other schools into Year 12 often track according to their feeder school or simply have an Internal/External student attribute. This supports understanding of how these groups of students perform.
Example A: By different schools
If using this approach it is key not to end up with too many categories. If you have a handful of students from a number of schools it may be worth using a category such as **other**. You need to have large enough cohorts for each category for the data to be statistically meaningful.
Example B: Internal students versus External students.
#### **Consortium 6th forms**
Consortium 6th forms have students coming from other schools to take subjects, often as guest students. Guest students will not appear in headline data unless you select those students to be included in statistics. Guest students will still appear in subject statistics. If you choose to include guest students in your headline measures using an attribute to look at headline performance of students based at different schools can be beneficial.
#### **Attendance Concerns and Mental Health concerns**
Many schools have challenges with groups of students with poor attendance or mental health concerns. Academic research clearly points to the correlation between poor attendance and poor academic outcomes. By having an attendance concerns attribute you can monitor the academic performance of students in certain attendance bands.
Mental health concerns can also be added as an attribute. Schools often label these groups sensitively (such as by calling them intervention groups) so as to not draw the attention of staff teaching those students.
#### **Intervention/Mentoring**
Quantifying the improvement of both individual students and groups of students in intervention is important in demonstrating that the programmes you are employing for underachievement are working. We have created a custom Yes/No attribute which highlights students who are on or who are not on a mentoring programme. Ensuring that those students not in the intervention group are marked no will ensure that gap data is shown for the focus group.
#### **Outlier group**
As with Key stage 4 having an Outlier group or a Story group – students with a story behind them is important in understanding Key Stage 5 performance. This is often used to demonstrate groups of students who have underperformed due to exceptional circumstance e.g. Family problems, Medical issues. Some schools will have a main Outlier group with all students who have mitigating circumstances and separate groups such as attendance concerns (see above) and mental health problems (see page 9).
Outliers can have a significant effect on your statistics as demonstrated below.
### **Viewing changing focus group data over time**
After navigating to the Year 12 or Year 13 full statistics page and then selecting focus groups (see page 4) in the top right-hand corner and selecting your attribute then clicking **change** you can change back to previous data snapshots (for more information on snapshots click here).
The data below demonstrates that there is a clear difference between when the group was highlighted on the 15th of December 2021 to the live data especially looking at the current grade for L3VA in the A level cohort.
Snapshot: 15th December 2021
Time period 2: Live data (March 2022)
- [FAQs](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/faqs?hsLang=en-gb)
- [Data Management](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/data-management?hsLang=en-gb#main-content)
- [Full Module Guide](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/data-management?hsLang=en-gb#full-module-guide)
- [General User Guides](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/general-user-guides?hsLang=en-gb#main-content)
- [Quick Guides](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/general-user-guides?hsLang=en-gb#quick-guides)
- [Curriculum Management](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/curriculum-management?hsLang=en-gb#main-content)
- [Quick Guides](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/curriculum-management?hsLang=en-gb#quick-guides)
- [Full Module Guide](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/curriculum-management?hsLang=en-gb#full-module-guide)
- [Behaviour Module Guides](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/behaviour-module-guides?hsLang=en-gb)
- [Attendance Module Guides](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/attendance-module-guides?hsLang=en-gb)
- [Student Report Guides](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/student-report-guides?hsLang=en-gb)
- [Homework Module Guides](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/homework-module-guides?hsLang=en-gb#main-content)
- [FAQs](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/homework-module-guides?hsLang=en-gb#faqs)
- [Communications Module Guides](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/communications-module-guides?hsLang=en-gb)
- [Consents Module Guides](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/consents-module-guides?hsLang=en-gb)
- [Document Management Guides](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/document-management-guides?hsLang=en-gb)
- [School Manager Guide](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/school-manager-guide?hsLang=en-gb)
- [Mobile App](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/mobile-app?hsLang=en-gb)
- [Report Manager Guide](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/report-manager-guide?hsLang=en-gb)
- [Seating Plan Guide](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/seating-plan-guide?hsLang=en-gb)
- [Detention Manager Guide](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/detention-manager-guide?hsLang=en-gb)
- [Welsh General User Guide](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/welsh-general-user-guide?hsLang=en-gb)
- [Installation Guide](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/installation-guide?hsLang=en-gb)
- [Video Guides](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/video-guides?hsLang=en-gb#main-content)
- [Markbooks](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/video-guides?hsLang=en-gb#markbooks)
- [Data management](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/video-guides?hsLang=en-gb#data-management)
- [Behaviour management](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/video-guides?hsLang=en-gb#behaviour-management)
- [Consents](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/video-guides?hsLang=en-gb#consents)
- [Reports](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/video-guides?hsLang=en-gb#reports)
- [Communications](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/video-guides?hsLang=en-gb#communications)
- [General](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/video-guides?hsLang=en-gb#general)
- [Seating plans](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/modular/video-guides?hsLang=en-gb#seating-plans)
- Home
- Products
- Pricing
- Blog
- Company
[](https://www.go4schools.com/)
[mailto:email@email.com](mailto:email@email.com)
Copyright © 2026, GO 4 Schools