Secondary schools in Wales have been told their provisional banding scores for a new system designed to improve school performance.

The system, introduced by Education Minister Leighton Andrews will be fully operational as of December and aims to categorise schools in bands depending on their results, attendance and social deprivation.

Headteachers have recently been informed of their school’s band, which is said to provide the clearest benchmark of performance since league tables, Wales Online reports.

According to the system, schools will be grouped in one of five bands. Band One will consist of schools which are best performing, with good progress made across all measures, whilst Band Five schools will be considered ‘weak compared to others’ and in need of additional support.

Officials from the newly-established School Standards Unit (SSU) analysed raw GCSE results against free school meal entitlement to determine the bands. Scores were compared year on year, whilst the inclusion of attendance data ‘reflects the priority placed on ensuring that learners are in school’.

The introduction of the school banding system is said to be the cornerstone of Mr Andrew’s five year plan to raise performance in Welsh schools, yet many establishments are said to be wary of the new system, which may send lower ranked schools into a ‘spiral of decline’.

David Evans, Welsh Secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) commented: “It’s going to be natural instinct for any parent or teacher that they want to send their children to a school in a higher band. If there’s a drift of pupils and teachers away from a school, it could end up in a spiral of decline which isn’t in anyone’s interests. We already know there is going to be no additional funding put into those schools.”

Dr Philip Dixon, Director of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers Cymru (ATL Cymru) stated that if properly used, the banding proposals could help all schools in Wales.

He commented: “Crude league tables of raw GCSE results, as seen in England, tell us little about a school’s performance but a great deal about the affluence or poverty of their pupils. By including value added data and attendance, the banding system could mean that the successes of schools in difficult areas will receive more recognition. These school banding proposals are ostensibly focussed on raising standards across the board, not on driving out poor performers.”

To read more about the new school banding system, click here.

For the latest education news, information and advice, why not sign up to our free e-newsletter.