How school results in England have changed
These are national figures for England across the last three published years. Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4 measures belong to England alone, so Welsh and Scottish results never appear here, and the two measures are read on their own terms rather than against each other.
Key Stage 2: reading, writing and maths
Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, cohort-weighted across every state-funded school in England with published results. Over the three years it has risen by +2.9%, from 59.9% in 2022/23 to 62.8% in 2024/25.
| Year | Pupils at expected standard | Schools |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 59.9% | 15,750 |
| 2023/24 | 61.2% | 15,745 |
| 2024/25 | 62.8% | 15,751 |
Key Stage 4: Attainment 8
Average Attainment 8 score, cohort-weighted across every state-funded school in England with published results. Over the three years it has fallen by -0.3, from 46.7 in 2022/23 to 46.4 in 2024/25.
| Year | Average score | Schools |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 46.7 | 3,851 |
| 2023/24 | 46.3 | 3,899 |
| 2024/25 | 46.4 | 3,961 |
What these measures mean
The Key Stage 2 figure is the share of Year 6 pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths together, the headline primary measure in England. Attainment 8 is a secondary school's average score across a pupil's best eight GCSE-level qualifications. Both are weighted by the size of each school's cohort, so a large year group counts for more than a small one and the national figure reads as a true pupil average.
Independent schools are left out of both, because their published Attainment 8 leaves out unregulated international GCSEs and would distort the average. A single national number hides a wide spread between schools and areas, so use it as background rather than a verdict on any one school. To compare schools fairly within an area, see the ranked results on each town or authority page, and read our data and methodology guide for the rules we follow.
Compiled by OfferDay from the Department for Education's Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4 performance data, published under the Open Government Licence. Wales and Scotland do not publish school-level attainment under an open licence, so no Welsh or Scottish results are shown or compared here.