This article aims to explain our understanding of the DfE’s KS5 cohort eligibility rules.
According to the DfE, in some cases it may not be possible to know for sure which former students will be included in your official performance figures until the checking exercise data has been finalised. However, this guide is designed to help you confirm your cohort as accurately as possible with the information currently available, and which student statuses would need to be used to reflect this in KS5.
Table of Contents:
- Introduction
- What are Student Statuses?
- Changing a Student’s Status
- Students currently on roll
- Decision Web - Students currently on roll
- Students not currently on roll, but have been in the last 3 years.
- Decision Web – Students not currently on roll
Introduction
The cohort eligibility rules are designed to give each provider credit for qualifications taken when students were on roll. This means that if students entered qualifications while on roll in Y12 and subsequently left, the original provider gets credit for these Y12 grades at some point, either once the student reaches the end of their 16-18 study or after they have left.
The criteria (taken from page 15 of the DfE's 16 to 18 Accountability Measures - Technical Guide) is as follows:
"Students are eligible to be included in 16 to 18 performance measures if they are of academic age 16, 17, 18 at the start of the 2022 to 2023 academic year (for example, 31 August 2022) and at the end of their 16-18 studies. They are identified as being at the end of 16-18 study when they first meet at least one of the following criteria:
a) they have entered for at least 2 qualifications, each of which is at least the size of an A level or they have entered for at least 1 qualification the size of at least 2 A levels, in the reporting year;
OR
b) they have entered for both a T Level core and T Level occupational specialism during 16 to 18 study (T Level attainment will not be included in performance tables until 2024 but this rule will be applied a year early to produce a normal cohort when reporting begins),
OR
c) they are 18 at the start of the reporting year and have not been reported in 16 to 18 performance measures at their current allocated school or college.
Prior to 2021, we also used a third inclusion rule where a student would be triggered for inclusion if they had been allocated to the same school or college for the last two years. We have removed this criteria to reduce the burden on schools and colleges where large numbers of students complete 16 to 18 study in their third year."
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If you're working with a cohort reported before the 2021/22 performance tables, an additional set of criteria is applied (introduced from 2016): "they have been allocated to the same school or college for the last two years;" For more information, see page 10 of the DfE’s 16 to 18 Technical Guide linked here) |
In this article, we have outlined what determines how a student counts in Analytics (student statuses), how to change a student’s status to ensure they are reflected accurately, and how to determine what status should be used depending on a student’s circumstances:
- For students currently studying at your school you can use the ‘Students currently on roll’ section of this article to help determine their statuses.
- For students who aren’t currently studying at your school but have been enrolled previously you can use the 'Students not currently on roll, but have been in the last 3 years' section of this article to help determine their statuses.
What are Student Statuses?
The student statuses available within the KS5 area of Analytics determine how students count towards school or student performance measures in the reports, outlined below:
Please note – A student will still need to meet the DfE defined inclusion criteria for each performance measure, to be included in that measure in the Headlines.
| Status |
Description |
Included in School Performance? | Included in Student Performance? |
| On Roll | For the majority of students who have been on roll at your school for Y12 and Y13. | YES* | YES |
| On Roll Aged 18 | This status can be selected manually for students who have been allocated to your school or college for at least 2 years, who are academic age 18.** | YES | YES |
| Year 12 Only | For students that have only completed Y12 at your school. | YES* | YES |
| Year 13 Only | For students that have only studied Y13 at your school (e.g. they may have transferred to you after studying Y12 at a different school). | YES* | YES |
| Year 12 Addback | This status should be selected manually for students identified as addbacks, based on the criteria provided by the DfE (see our Cohort Eligibility article linked below). | YES | YES |
| Year 13 Only Aged 18 | This status should be selected manually for students that have only studied Y13 at your school, and are also academic age 18**. | YES | YES |
| Guest | This status should be selected manually for students that should not count towards headline figures, but that you would like to include in student performance in that cohort’s reports (e.g. qualification/class analysis). | NO | YES |
| Left School | Students are excluded from all reports and figures for that cohort. | NO | NO |
* Students need 2 grades worth at least 1 A Level entry each (or 1 grade worth 2 entries), to be included in school performance measures.
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**Q: How do I determine if a student is ‘academic age 18’? A: All information within this guide relates to the 2023/24 performance tables, so any references to ‘academic age 18’ refer to the students’ age on 31/08/2023 (the start of the reporting year). We have also based all information on the assumption that in 2023/24, Year 13 students are academic age 17 (i.e. aged 17 on 31/08/2023) and Year 14 students are academic age 18 (i.e. aged 18 on 31/08/2023). See our separate guide for a list of correspondence with the DfE from 2015/16: KS5 Cohort Eligibility – DfE Correspondence |
In KS5, select student statuses can be set automatically by Analytics, depending on the student data files a student is included in or missing from. For example, if a student was included in the student data file imported when they were in Y12, but not in any Y13 student data file for the cohort, they will automatically be set to ‘Year 12 Only’.
It’s important to double check your student statuses are reflected accurately, and set any statuses manually where necessary (e.g. Guest, Year 13 Only Aged 18), for accurate figures. This is explained further in the following section.
Changing a Student’s Status
To check or change a student’s status based on the cohort eligibility guidance, go to DATA > KS5 and cohort > STUDENTS > Cohort, shown on the screenshot below.
To change a student’s status, tick the boxes in the Actions column and click ‘Change Status’ above. Then in the pop-out window that opens, shown below, select the appropriate status and click Change Status.
Students currently on roll
Determining whether Y13 and Y14 students who are currently on roll at your school should be included in your cohort is based on the criteria stated above:
- Is the student academic age 18 and not previously been reported in 22/23 at any school?
YES: These students will be included in the performance tables and cannot be deferred during the checking exercise. If they were on roll in Year 13 only, they can be set to ‘Year 13 Only Aged 18’ in Analytics. If they have been on roll at least 2 years, they can be set to 'On Roll Aged 18'. This would need to be done manually via STUDENTS > Cohort.
N.B. Students are academic age 18 if they are 18 at the start of the reporting year. For example, for the 23/24 cohort, students would need to be 18 on 31/08/2023.
NO: See step 2.
- Is the student academic age 17 and been on roll for at least 2 years?
YES: These students will be included in the performance tables. However, if they are continuing their 16-18 study, you will have the option to defer them for 1 year during the September checking exercise. They should be set to ‘On Roll’* in Analytics.
N.B. Students are academic age 17 if they are 17 at the start of the reporting year. For example, for the 23/24 cohort, students would need to be 17 on 31/08/2023.
*In the 21/22 and later performance tables, On Roll students need 2 grades worth at least 1 A Level entry (or 1 grade worth 2 entries) to be included in school performance measures.
NO: See step 3.
- Is the student academic age 17, and been on roll for 1 year (Year 13)?
YES: These students are eligible for reporting depending on whether they meet additional criteria, and should be set to ‘Year 13 Only’ in Analytics.
N.B. Year 13 Only students need 2 grades worth at least 1 A Level entry (or 1 grade worth 2 entries) to be included in school performance measures, as per DfE guidance. Students will automatically be set to ‘Year 13 Only’ in Analytics if they only have student data imported for Y13 and this rule will automatically be applied for you based on the grades they have uploaded. However, you can also manually set a student to ‘Year 13 Only’ where applicable.
NO: These students will not count in the 2024 performance tables and will instead likely be included in your figures next year. They should either be set to ‘Left School’ to ensure they are excluded from all reports for the cohort, or ‘Guest’ to include them within the student performance-based reports, whilst not affecting school headline figures.
Decision Web – Students currently on roll
Students not currently on roll, but have been in the last 3 years
Unfortunately, the rules are more complicated when it comes to students who were on roll in Year 12 in either 2021/22 or 2022/23 but who are no longer on roll. According to the DfE, in certain cases schools “can’t be sure in which year some of their students who left after year 12 will be included”. Below we have listed a series of questions based on our understanding of when former students may be added back in to your cohort.
- Did the student study Y12 in 2022/23?
YES: Students that studied Y12 in the 22/23 academic year but are no longer on roll should be academic age 17 and will not have been allocated to the same provider for two years, however could still count. They should be set to ‘Year 12 Only’ in Analytics.
N.B. Year 12 Only students need 2 grades worth at least 1 A Level entry (or 1 grade worth 2 entries) to be included in school performance measures, as per DfE guidance. Students will automatically be set to ‘Year 12 Only’ in Analytics if they only have student data imported for Y12 and this rule will automatically be applied for you based on the grades they have uploaded. However, you can also manually set a student to ‘Year 12 Only’ where applicable.
NO: See step 2.
- Did the student study Y12 in 2021/22?
YES: These students should now be academic age 18 and meet criterion b, suggesting they will count in the performance tables. See step 3.
NO: These students should have been included in a previous reporting year.
- Do the students have any student data uploaded in the 2023/24 cohort in Analytics?
YES: You can change their status to ‘Year 12 Addback’ in Analytics, which will include them in school performance, provided they have the necessary grades for inclusion in each measure. We recommend checking these students should definitely count towards your school performance measures.
NO: Import a Y12 student data file containing the missing students for the 23/24 cohort (STUDENTS > Import). Then, manually change their student status to ‘Year 12 Addback’ via STUDENTS > Cohort. You will then need to upload their Exam grades into the Exams data set (GRADES > Uploads > Exams).
Decision Web – Students not currently on roll
Thanks for reading!