How Pupil Progress Transforms Assessment and Teaching Practices: The Hayling College Case Study

Headteacher Martyn Reah introduced Pupil Progress to The Hayling College in 2022 following research conducted by the English and Geography departments. Their aim was to address issues with assessment and reporting while implementing centralisation and real-time data. The system had a positive impact on student outcomes, boosting exam results and closing achievement gaps. It also helped reduce teacher workload, provided meaningful data, and encouraged changes in both assessment practices and teaching methods. Overall, the introduction of Pupil Progress has had a transformative effect on the school's assessment and teaching practices, resulting in improved student outcomes and a more efficient, centralised, and manageable approach to assessment.

We wanted to change our approach to assessment. The system we had didn't make much sense and wasn’t making a difference for students in their lessons. Additionally, we didn't have a centrally held data system. Instead, there were endless spreadsheets stored in shared drives that nobody could ever remember, which made no sense except when a data drop came around. We needed to forget all the ineffective ways of doing things and create a new approach. Our PE Department had used the first iteration of Pupil Progress, so they knew what it looked like. English and Geography then worked together, examining what we weren’t doing well in terms of assessment and what could be improved.

One particular issue we identified was with reporting. We were using too many systems and structures – it was coming out from SIMS, it was coming from SISRA, and none of the conversations were linked up. As soon as the teams in English and Geography saw what could happen using Pupil Progress, it solved both problems. That was the "penny-drop" moment for the team. Within half a term, we decided we would put all subjects at Key Stage 4 into Pupil Progress.

The background of the staff at Pupil Progress is informed by what happens in schools, and that makes a massive difference because people they remember what it's like. There's an ease to using the system and an understanding of what's expected. But it also goes back to the fundamentals, the core of assessment and about how it's related to assessment objectives. I think that can otherwise get lost, not intentionally, in the day-to-day running of a school.

In the past, the reporting would have been very intense for the support staff. Now, we just have one system that provide bespoke feedback for each student for every subject they take. Staff don't need to go looking for it; it’s simply a case of ‘press, print, and it comes out’.

In the classroom, it becomes a conversation, something I've not had with any other system before. Assessment would normally require additional manipulation of the data to make it accessible for teachers first, and then for the students afterwards, if you were lucky. Now, all of that work has gone.

We focused entirely on Year 11 in the first year to get the system up and running and to use the reporting features. When we started inputting our mock data, the system became a tool for learning in lessons for the students.

In that first year, within a term, we had reports going out to the students, parents and carers, and staff about how close they were to their particular grades in their particular subjects. We could identify students’ areas of improvement through the reporting system. The reports were kept in the students' books as a reference point. When we did another set of mocks, they could clearly see the improvement.

Our English and Maths results at 4+ increased by 10% compared to the previous year. Our Pupil Premium results improved, the gap narrowed, and our SEN results improved as well. It's not just the assessment data that's got improved; the quality of teaching has enhanced. Pupil Progress being the tracking system that we use to help everyone understand what they do next, is the thing that ties it all together.