Are children learning more?
Education chapter 3. The measures have been rebuilt four times in fifteen years, so the honest answer starts by explaining why the obvious chart would mislead.
The short answer
The published measures cannot tell you whether children in England know more than they used to. That is not a gap in collection — the data is extensive — but a consequence of the measures having been rebuilt four times inside the period they cover. A line drawn through them would be a line drawn through four different rulers.
What the data does support is narrower and still useful: how many pupils reach a given threshold in a given year under the rules then in force, how that differs between groups in the same year, and how England performs on international assessments designed for comparison over time. Within-year comparisons are sound; across-measure-change comparisons are not.
Four rebuilds of the ruler
Attainment measures in England have been rebuilt repeatedly over this period. Attainment 8 was introduced in 2016 and its scoring changed in 2018/19; GCSE grading moved from letters to 9–1 between 2017 and 2019; and grades in 2019/20 and 2020/21 were awarded by centre and teacher assessment rather than examination. A rise or fall across any of those boundaries can be a change in the measure rather than in what pupils know.
2016
Attainment 8 and Progress 8 introduced
Replaced five A*–C including English and maths as the headline measure. The two are not versions of one measure; they count different things about different numbers of qualifications.
DfE, Progress 8 and Attainment 8 guidance ↗2017 to 2019
GCSE grading moved from A*–G to 9–1
Phased subject by subject over three years, so a single cohort sat a mixture of both. A grade 4 is broadly a low C and a grade 5 a high C or low B, but the mapping is not exact and was never intended to be.
Ofqual, Grading new GCSEs from 2017 ↗2018/19
Attainment 8 scoring changed
The points attached to grades were revised, so Attainment 8 scores either side of this year are on different scales.
DfE, Secondary accountability measures ↗2019/20 and 2020/21
Grades awarded without examinations
Centre-assessed and then teacher-assessed grades. The Department states these are not comparable with exam years, and results rose sharply in both.
DfE, Key stage 4 performance ↗
What can be said
In 2024/25, average Attainment 8 was 46.1 and 45.4% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in English and maths.
2019/20 and 2020/21 grades were not awarded by examination. The Department states they are not comparable with exam years. They are shown, marked, rather than dropped — removing them silently would be its own distortion.
Source: DfE, Key stage 4 performance. Grey bars are years graded without examinations.
View as table
| Period | Average Attainment 8 |
|---|---|
| 2018/19 | 46.7 |
| 2019/20 | 50.2 |
| 2020/21 | 50.9 |
| 2021/22 | 48.8 |
| 2022/23 | 46.3 |
| 2023/24 | 45.9 |
| 2024/25 | 46.1 |
Two of these years were not exam years
2019/20 and 2020/21 grades were not awarded by examination. The Department states they are not comparable with exam years. They are shown, marked, rather than dropped — removing them silently would be its own distortion.
One measure that has not been rebuilt
The phonics screening check has run unchanged since 2011/12, which makes it the one long series in this chapter where a comparison across years is straightforwardly valid.
80% of pupils met the expected standard in the phonics screening check in 2024/25, against 58% in 2011/12.
The check has been unchanged since 2011/12. The check was not administered in 2019/20 and 2020/21.
Source: DfE, Phonics screening check attainment. Year 1 pupils, state-funded schools.
View as table
| Period | Pupils meeting the expected standard in the phonics screening check |
|---|---|
| 2011/12 | 58% |
| 2012/13 | 69% |
| 2013/14 | 74% |
| 2014/15 | 77% |
| 2015/16 | 81% |
| 2016/17 | 81% |
| 2017/18 | 82% |
| 2018/19 | 82% |
| 2021/22 | 75% |
| 2022/23 | 79% |
| 2023/24 | 80% |
| 2024/25 | 80% |
Key stage 4, exam years only
Years graded without examinations are excluded from this table, because the Department states they are not comparable with exam years. Even across what remains, the 2018/19 rescoring of Attainment 8 means the earliest year is not on the same scale as the rest.
View as table
| Year | Attainment 8 | Grade 5+ English and maths | Grade 4+ English and maths | EBacc entered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018/19 | 46.7 | 43.2% | 64.6% | 40% |
| 2021/22 | 48.8 | 49.8% | 68.8% | 38.7% |
| 2022/23 | 46.3 | 45.3% | 65.1% | 39.3% |
| 2023/24 | 45.9 | 45.9% | 65% | 40.4% |
| 2024/25 | 46.1 | 45.4% | 64.8% | 40.5% |
Last verified 2026-08-31. Data: DfE, Key stage 4 performance; Phonics screening check attainment.
Related chapters
- In this sectionBritain vs EuropeThe same pupils on an international assessment, with England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland ranked separately across the EU and EFTA.
- In this sectionWho gets left behind?The gap between groups in the same year, which the measure changes do not affect.
- In this sectionSpecial educational needsAttainment by SEN status, on the same key stage measures.
- In this sectionAttendance and missing educationPupils who are not in class to be assessed at all.
- In this sectionWhat are we teaching?The EBacc and subject-entry trends behind these attainment measures.
- In this sectionWhat was the qualification worth?What this attainment record is associated with in later earnings.
- In this sectionEducationThe other chapters, and how this section is built.
Scope and definitions
England, not the UK
Education is devolved. Every figure on this page is England only. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland operate different frameworks with different legal definitions, and their figures are not directly comparable.
Population
These figures cover schools and staff in England as recorded in the annual censuses: the school census for pupils and schools, and the school workforce census for staff. They count institutions and employees, not children with any particular characteristic, and they are not the 0–25 population used in the SEND chapter.
Attainment measures in England have been rebuilt repeatedly over this period. Attainment 8 was introduced in 2016 and its scoring changed in 2018/19; GCSE grading moved from letters to 9–1 between 2017 and 2019; and grades in 2019/20 and 2020/21 were awarded by centre and teacher assessment rather than examination. A rise or fall across any of those boundaries can be a change in the measure rather than in what pupils know.