A classification for English primary schools using open data

Abstract

England has statutory regulations in place that ensure state funded schools deliver broadly the same curriculum. However, there still exists a wide range of contexts in which this education takes place, including: the management of schools; how schools choose to spend their budgets; individual policies in regards to staffing; behaviour and attendance; and perhaps most importantly, the composition of the pupil population. Given these factors, one outcome of interest is the attainment profile of schools, and it is important that this performance is judged in context, for the benefits of pupils, parents and schools. To this end, this study develops a classification using contemporary data for English primary schools. The open data used captures aspects of the gender, ethnic, language, staffing and affluence makeup of each school. The nature of these derived groupings is described and made available as a mapping resource. These groupings allow the identification of “families of schools” to act as a resource for fostering better collaboration between schools and more nuanced benchmarking.