Overview
This article gives an overview of the "5 x" measures and explains how they are calculated. These measures are referred to as Students achieving 5 Standard Passes inc. EM and Students achieving 5 Strong Passes inc. EM in the KS3/4 Headlines Summary report.
Use this article to assist with troubleshooting these figures or to gain a better understanding of how these measures are worked out.
Definition
The two "5 x" measures allow schools to see how their 2017 (and beyond) cohorts may have performed in both the old 5 A*-C, including English and Maths measure, and how they might perform in an updated measure.
The difference between the two measures is the minimum grade required in any reformed GCSE qualification:
- Grade 4 is good enough to count towards the Standard Passes measure
- Students need to achieve a Grade 5 to count towards the Strong Passes measure.
A C grade (or better) in an unreformed GCSE will count towards both measures.
Although schools have been using these measures since 2017, the figures, when they are published, they are produced using the DfE’s 2016 reporting rules (but the students achieving each measure will be identical).
For further information about the Strong and Standard grades, as well as the rough equivalence between unreformed A*-C and reformed 9-4 grades follow this link.
Students achieving 5 Standard Passes inc. EM
This measure reflects how students might have performed in the old 5 A*-C inc. EM measure. The equivalence between reformed and unreformed grades used here is based on:
"A grade 4 and above will be equivalent to a C and above"
Grades counting towards this measure are:
- 9-4 grades in reformed GCSEs
- A*-C grades in unreformed GCSEs
- Level 2 passes in non-GCSEs and AS levels
To achieve the measure, students must achieve a pass in the 9-4 in English and Maths measure and have 3 additional grades that would have been eligible to count towards the old 5 A*-C inc. EM measure.
To count towards the measure, each grade must meet a minimum points threshold. The points thresholds vary depending on both the grade type and the DfE rules used, as shown in the table below:
| Grade Type | Points required (2016 DfE rules) | Equivalent Grade | Points required (2017 DfE rules) | Equivalent Grade |
| AS Level | 4.5 | E | 3.5 | E |
| GCSE (9-1) | N/A | N/A | 4 | 4 |
| GCSE (A*-G) | 5 | C | 4 | C |
| Non-GCSE | 5 | L2P | 4 | L2P |
Students achieving 5 Strong Passes inc. EM
This measure reflects how students might have performed in an updated 5 A*-C inc. EM measure. Grades counting towards this measure are:
- 9-5 grades in reformed GCSEs
- A*-C grades in unreformed GCSEs
- Level 2 passes in non-GCSEs and AS levels
To achieve this measure, students must achieve a pass in the 9-5 in English and Maths measure and have 3 additional grades that would have been eligible to count towards the old 5 A*-C inc. EM measure.
To count towards the measure, each grade must meet a minimum points threshold. The points thresholds vary depending on both the grade type and the DfE rules used, as shown in the table below:
| Grade Type | Points required (2016 DfE rules) | Equivalent Grade | Points required (2017 DfE rules) | Equivalent Grade |
| AS Level | 4.5 | E | 3.5 | E |
| GCSE (9-1) | N/A | N/A | 5 | 5 |
| GCSE (A*-G) | 5 | C | 4 | C |
| Non-GCSE | 5 | L2P | 4 | L2P |
Since 2017, the reformed Combined Science split double-qualification has only counted as 1 entry towards these measures in the performance tables, but can still count as two entries towards other headline figures, such as A8/P8 and EBacc.
Attachments
- 5xMeasures.pdf100 KB
Updated