The raising of the participation age in England from September means that a whole new area of data will be available. So a read of the new Ofsted handbook for the inspection of local authority arrangements for supporting school improvement makes for interesting reading, recommending analysis of RAISEonline data as part of any inspection. Currently, RAISEonline does not include key stage 5 data (for ages 16-18), so what data analysis will be available to support local authorities and individual schools and colleges? The effective use of accessible data about all ages is crucial for strategic planning.

Dr Kate Reynolds, Chief executive, Learning Plus UK.