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FAQ - What 'DfE Rules' are applied to my KS4 reports?

  • Updated

What are DfE Rules?

When Sisra Admins at your school publish reports for KS3/4, there is a ‘DfE Rules’ dropdown, which determines which reporting year's rules are applied when calculating school performance measures within the reports. For example, Headlines, A8/P8, Basics, EBacc, VA. 

Note: DfE rules will NOT affect student based performance figures.

This is because the rules on how qualifications can count towards performance tables can change year on year as per DfE guidance, and so, to make sure your Headline figures are accurate, the appropriate rules should be used for each cohort.

We've provided an overview of how the rules differ by year below.

How can I check what DfE Rules the report was published with?

You can view the year selected for a particular KS3/4 report by clicking 'Dataset Info' to the right of the selected report on the REPORTS home page:

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Or by clicking the info icon from within the report directly:

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Overview of DfE Rules

Note: Unapproved qualifications will not count towards school performance measures in any year - regardless of the DfE Rules selected.

2022 (21/22 Leavers and later)

Same as 2017, except:

  • The DfE confirmed that early entries taken in 2020 and 2021 would not contribute points in 2022, so the 2022 rules were introduced to reflect this. Any grades with a 'Results Date' set between 01/08/2021 and 31/08/2021 would not count towards performance measures.

2017 (16/17 Leavers to 20/21 Leavers)

  • 2017 Attainment 8 points introduced.
  • First entry discounting applies to all qualifications.
  • Maximum of 3 non-GCSEs can count towards Headline performance measures.
  • Non-GCSEs are no longer given a post GCSE date (so that previously GCSEs always won).
  • Qualifications smaller than a single GCSE cannot count. [1]
  • Qualifications larger than a single GCSE count as 1 entry. [2]
  • English Language and Literature are equally weighted (either can count towards English performance measures).
  • Basics measure – Students no longer require an entry in both Language and Literature.
  • New points thresholds used in headlines updated (EBacc & Basics), explained later on.

2016 (15/16 Leavers)

Same rules above, bar:

  • 2016 Attainment 8 points.
  • 2016 points thresholds used in headlines (EBacc & Basics), explained later on.

2015 (14/15 Leavers)

  • First Entry discounting applies to all qualifications.
  • Maximum of 2 non-GCSEs can count towards Headline performance measures.
  • Qualifications smaller than a single GCSE cannot count. [1]
  • Qualifications larger than a single GCSE count as 1 entry. [2]

[1] L3 Asset Languages, L3 FSMQ, and ABRSM Grade 6 qualifications are all smaller in size than a single GCSE but are on the List of Approved Qualifications from 2014 onwards and can count towards measures.
[2] Double Award Science counts as both entries in the EBacc Science measure and towards Attainment 8.

Points Thresholds Explained

As well as the above rules, the option selected also determines the ‘points thresholds’ for unreformed GCSEs. This is because the points thresholds (set by the DfE) change according to whether 2016 or 2017 Attainment 8 points are used to calculate the performance measures.

For example, a C grade at GCSE will count as an EBacc strong pass in both years, but as the points awarded are different across the 2 years (5 points in 2016, 4 points in 2017), different points thresholds need to be used in the reports to reflect measures accurately.

Strong Pass

Standard Pass

 

2016

2017 & Later

 

2016

2017 & Later

GCSE 9-1

5

5

GCSE 9-1

4

4

GCSE A*-G

5

4

GCSE A*-G

4

3

AS Level

4.5

3.5

AS Level

4.5

3.5

Thanks for reading!

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