Data showing that colleges offering provision for 14- to 16 year-olds achieve a significantly lower Progress 8 score than other school forms does not “tell the full story”, the Association of Colleges (AoC) has warned.

According to figures released by the Department for Education, the average Progress 8 score at the 17 colleges offering direct entry was -2.10, the lowest of any other type of educational establishment. FE colleges scored 14.2 - compared to all state-funded mainstream schools, which scored 47.1.

‘Not the full story’

There are 17 FE colleges offering 14-16 provision, which the report acknowledges is too small to enable robust conclusions to be drawn about their performance.

AoC senior policy manager Catherine Sezen said the data did not “tell the full story”.

She added: “Direct entry provision was set up to provide an alternative to the school-based curriculum, with a focus on core skills and high-quality technical education. It most often caters for young people who have not thrived in a mainstream school setting and should therefore not be judged in the same way.”

‘Incredible added value’

“College data shows incredible added value, high levels of post-16 progression to level 2 and 3 programmes and apprenticeships, improved progress from entry point, better attendance and increased engagement.”

Progress 8 was introduced in 2016 as a measure based on a calculation of a pupil’s attainment at GCSE compared to their peers of a similar ability.

Since September 2013, general further education colleges and sixth-form colleges have been able to directly enrol 14- to 16-year-olds.

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