Attainment 8
Attainment 8 measures a student's average grade across eight subjects – the same subjects that count towards Progress 8. This measure is designed to encourage schools to offer a broad, well-balanced curriculum.
The eight subjects fit into three groups:
- English and maths. These are double-weighted, which means they count twice. There are rules around how English and maths qualifications are added to this group and how to count them: see the Department for Education's Progress 8 page.
- English Baccalaureate (Ebacc). These are the highest scores from the sciences, computer science, geography, history and languages.
- Open group. Any remaining GCSEs and other approved academic, arts or vocational qualifications.
Calculating Attainment 8
For a student, add up the points for their 8 subjects and divide by 10 to get their Attainment 8 score. A school's Attainment 8 score is the average of all of its students' scores. Students don't have to take 8 subjects, but they score zero for any unfilled slots.
GCSE qualifications from 2017
From 2017, points will be allocated to the new GCSEs on a 1–9 point scale corresponding to the new grading system. So a grade 9 will get 9 points.
Legacy GCSEs (graded A* to G) will also be mapped on to the 1–9 point scale from 2017 – see the table below. However, legacy GCSEs will only get a maximum of 8.5 points under the new system.
Discounting: how to add points when qualifications overlap
If a student takes the same subject at both GCSE and AS, only the AS points will count in the performance tables.
Once a new 9–1 GCSE is awarded, you can’t add a legacy A*–G GCSE grade (or equivalent qualification grade) in that subject to the performance tables.
There's more detail in our video below (read video transcript), and on the DfE’s Progress 8 and Attainment 8 guidance pages.
Points for A*–G GCSEs
Grade | 2016 points | 2017 and 2018 points |
---|---|---|
G | 1 | 1 |
F | 2 | 1.5 |
E | 3 | 2 |
D | 4 | 3 |
C | 5 | 4 |
B | 6 | 5.5 |
A | 7 | 7 |
A* | 8 | 8.5 |
Example
Qualification | Grade | Points | Included? | Group it's counted in | Doubled? | Total points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GCSE Maths | A | 7 | Yes | English and Maths | Yes | 14 |
GCSE English Language | A* | 8 | Yes | English and Maths | Yes | 16 |
GCSE English Literature | B | 6 | Yes | Open group | No | 6 |
GCSE Additional Science | B | 6 | Yes | EBacc | No | 6 |
GCSE Art | C | 5 | Yes | Open group | No | 5 |
GCSE Core Science | A | 7 | Yes | EBacc | No | 7 |
GCSE French | C | 5 | Yes | Open group | No | 5 |
GCSE Spanish | B | 6 | Yes | EBacc | No | 6 |
GCSE Religious Studies | D | 4 | No – 8 slots filled |
The total is 65, and we divide by 10 to get the Attainment 8 score: 6.5.