In February 2015, the Department for Education released the 2014 16-19 Interim minimum standards [1].

This dataset provides information on the percentages of students at each centre who surpassed the minimum standards threshold. For the three years included in the infographic, the threshold was 172 points per academic entry and 194 points per vocational entry. 
A centre was seen to be underperforming if fewer than 40% of students achieved this standard in 2012 and 2013, and fewer than 45% of students achieved the standards in 2014.

In England, the vast majority of centres achieve both the academic and vocational minimum standard. In 2012:

•    2.0% of centres (40 centres) were below the academic minimum standard
•    2.4% of centres ((33 centres) were below the vocational minimum standard

In 2013:
•    1.6% of centres (32 centres) were below the academic minimum standard
•    1.9% of centres (29 centres) were below the vocational minimum standard

In 2014:
•    2.4% of centres (50 centres) were below the academic minimum standard
•    1.6% of centres (24 centres) were below the vocational minimum standard

The percentage of centres below the vocational minimum standard has decline for the past three years.  However despite a decline from 2012 to 2013, the percentage of centres below the academic minimum standard has sharply increased since 2013, at the same time that the threshold was increased from 40% of students achieving minimum standards to 45% of students.

Regional increases

Academic minimum standard

The percentage of centres below the academic minimum standards increased in every region between 2013 and 2014. 

The regions with the greatest increase were:
•    Inner London (2% to 3.6%)
•    Yorkshire and the Humber (1.1% to 2.7%)
•    North East (0% to 1.2%)

However, whilst these regions have seen a sharp increase following a decrease in the previous year, three regions have seen a year-on-year increase in the percentage of centres below the academic minimum standard:
•    East Midlands (1% to 1.6% to 2.1%)
•    Outer London (0.5% to 1.8% to 2.2%)
•    North West (1.8% to 2.7% to 3.2%)

Vocational minimum standard

Whilst England has seen an overall decrease in the percentage of centres below the vocational minimum standard between 2013 and 2014, this measure has slightly increased in the majority of regions.

The regions with the greatest increase were:
•    Inner London (0% to 3.7%)
•    East of England (0.6% to 1.2%)
•    South West (2.3% to 2.9%)

Of all regions, only the South West has seen a year-on-year increase, with the percentage of centres below the vocational minimum standard in 2012 at 0.9%. 

What impact has the introduction of the 16-19 interim minimum standards had in your centre or local authority? Has it triggered an Ofsted inspection? We are eager to hear from you. Explore our Big Numbers and join us on Twitter (@learningplusuk), on our Post-16 Learning Forum or LinkedIn group to share your views!

 

[1] DfE 2014 16-19 Interim minimum standards.
Available from: http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/download_data.html