How We Set Targets at GCSE

In line with our RWS Curriculum Vision, KS3 students do not receive a target grade or flightpath.

Upon starting GCSE studies (Year 9 for Core subjects of Maths, English and Science and Year 10 for all other subjects), an internal GCSE Target Grade will be generated. They will only be issued to students at the beginning of the Summer Term in Year 10. Our target grade setting methodology seeks to ensure that GCSE target grades are Aspirational, Achievable and Individual.

• As students embark upon GCSE study, their Key Stage 2 scores are reviewed, as the School seeks to set targets which are aspirational, achievable and individual.
• The School refers to the Fischer Family Trust, an educational charity which produces target grades for schools to use. We use FFT top 5% as our starting point (targets which would place RWS students in the top 5% nationally of all schools if all students achieved these targets).
• Performance in Years 7-10 is also reviewed alongside these FFT top 5% targets. If a student has performed consistently to a higher or lower standard than expected for a student of their proposed target grade, the target will be adjusted (no lower than a Grade 4, no higher than a Grade 8).
• As a new feature of our target setting approach, we are introducing two ‘Target Grade Checkpoints’ - one at the end of Year 10 after the end of year assessments and one after the first Pre-Public Examinations (PPE1) of Year 11, where target grades will be reviewed alongside the outcomes of these sets of assessments.
• During both checkpoints, targets may move up or down before they are set for either the beginning of Year 11 or the second Pre-Public Examinations (PPE2) in Year 11, although no target will ever be lower than a Grade 4 or higher than a Grade 8.
• Any student whose performance would lead to a target grade moving two grades below their FFT top 5% target grade would be highlighted as a serious cause for concern and reviewed further before any further target change.
• By introducing two target grade checkpoints, and by taking into account Year 7-10 performance, the School's target setting approach reinforces our strong belief that academic acceleration can take place at different times in a student's academic journey. Likewise, by linking targets to performance, we would ensure that no student is limited by fixed, low targets or demoralised by fixed, unrealistic targets.

In summary, our GCSE target grades are: