New exam benchmark for Guernsey schools

The change will see a broader range of exam subjects used to judge the performance of schools, education heads say

The way exam results are reported by schools in Guernsey is to change.

The previous academic benchmark of five GCSEs and equivalents - including maths and English - is being phased out completely in August to be replaced by the new measure of Attainment 8.

A transition period of the two systems running in tandem since 2019 has ended.

It was hoped the new measure would allow grades to be compared with results elsewhere, including Jersey and England, education bosses said.

The Attainment 8 would be calculated using grades achieved by each student and then averaging them across all students to give the score for the school, they said.

The new performance measures would bring "several benefits", including "an incentive to focus on attainment in a broader range of eight subjects rather than five", they added.

Clare Sealy, head of education improvement, said: "Ensuring the way that our exam results are reported is comparable with Jersey, England and other similar places will allow us to identify areas that need improvement more easily and make things clearer on a national scale - for students and educationalists alike.

"We are confident that the new measures paint a more accurate picture of a cohort's successes."

Follow BBC Guernsey on Twitter and Facebook. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].