Glossary
Plain-English explanations of the education terms, measures and abbreviations you may see across Fammove.
We use terminology from official education sources including the Department for Education and Ofsted. This glossary explains what those terms mean and how to interpret them when researching a school.
59 terms
A state-funded school that is funded directly by government and run by an academy trust rather than the local authority. Academies follow the same admissions and SEND law as other state schools but have more freedom over the curriculum and staff terms.
Department for EducationA single school covering both primary and secondary age ranges, so pupils do not transfer at age 11.
Get Information About Schools (DfE)The statutory stage of learning, development and care for children from birth to the end of the Reception year.
What this means for families
In a primary school, EYFS usually means the Nursery and Reception classes.
A school funded by fees and private income rather than the state. Independent schools are inspected, but they are not required to publish the same performance measures as state schools.
Get Information About Schools (DfE)Years 1 and 2 of primary school, covering ages 5 to 7.
What this means for families
National KS1 assessments are no longer published as headline school measures, so recent years may show no KS1 results.
Years 3 to 6 of primary school, covering ages 7 to 11, ending with national curriculum tests (often called SATs) in Year 6.
Department for EducationYears 7 to 9 of secondary school, covering ages 11 to 14.
Department for EducationYears 10 and 11 of secondary school, covering ages 14 to 16, ending with GCSEs and equivalent qualifications.
Department for EducationA state school funded and overseen by its local authority, following the national curriculum.
Department for EducationA school for children of roughly ages 4 to 11 (Reception to Year 6). Infant schools cover the younger years and junior schools the older years.
Get Information About Schools (DfE)The first year of primary school, and the final year of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Children normally start in the September after their fourth birthday.
Department for EducationA school for pupils of roughly ages 11 to 16, sometimes to 18 where it has a sixth form.
Get Information About Schools (DfE)Education for 16 to 19 year olds, usually Years 12 and 13, covering A levels, T levels and other level 3 qualifications.
Department for EducationA school that provides for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, normally through an education, health and care (EHC) plan.
Get Information About Schools (DfE)A state-funded school, usually with a religious character, where the governing body is the admissions authority and a foundation or trust (often a church) contributes to the school's governance.
What this means for families
Admission criteria at these schools may include faith-based requirements, so read the school's own admissions policy.
What pupils achieved in national assessments or examinations at the end of a key stage.
What this means for families
Attainment describes results at a point in time. It does not on its own show how much pupils improved while at the school — progress measures do that.
A pupil's average achievement across eight GCSE-level qualifications, including English and maths, science, humanities and languages, reported as a school average.
DfE school performance tablesPupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years, or looked after or previously looked after children. Schools receive pupil premium funding for them.
Department for EducationA group of GCSE subjects — English, maths, sciences, a language and either history or geography. Schools report how many pupils entered and achieved this combination.
DfE school performance tablesThe standard the Department for Education defines as the level pupils are expected to reach in a national assessment.
DfE school performance tablesA standard above the expected standard, reached by pupils working at greater depth in a national assessment.
DfE school performance tablesThe percentage of Year 6 pupils who reached the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics combined.
What this means for families
This is a combined measure: a pupil counts only if they met the standard in all three subjects.
The percentage of Year 6 pupils working at a higher standard in reading, writing and mathematics combined.
Fammove academic performance methodology →How much pupils improved between two key stages compared with pupils nationally who had similar prior attainment.
What this means for families
A progress score around zero means pupils made about the same progress as similar pupils nationally.
How much progress pupils made across those eight qualifications between the end of primary school and the end of Key Stage 4, compared with pupils nationally who had similar KS2 results.
What this means for families
Zero means progress in line with similar pupils nationally. Small differences above or below zero are not usually meaningful on their own.
The percentage of pupils who continued in education, apprenticeships, training or employment after leaving a stage of school.
DfE school performance tablesThe percentage of possible school sessions missed by pupils, for any reason, authorised or unauthorised.
DfE pupil absence statisticsThe percentage of possible school sessions that pupils actually attended. Schools record two sessions each day, morning and afternoon.
DfE pupil absence statisticsAbsence the school has agreed to, such as illness, a medical appointment or an approved exceptional circumstance.
DfE pupil absence statisticsThe percentage of pupils who missed 10% or more of their possible school sessions across the year.
What this means for families
This counts pupils, not sessions. It can be affected by a small number of pupils with long-term illness or other individual circumstances.
Pupils who missed 50% or more of their possible school sessions across the year.
DfE pupil absence statisticsAbsence the school has not agreed to, including arriving after the register closes and holidays taken without permission.
DfE pupil absence statisticsThe second grade on the four-point Ofsted scale, indicating a school met the expectations of the framework in use at that inspection.
OfstedThe lowest grade on the four-point Ofsted scale, covering serious weaknesses or the need for special measures.
OfstedA visit by Ofsted inspectors to evaluate a school against the inspection framework in force at the time, followed by a published report.
What this means for families
Inspection frameworks change over time, so two schools inspected in different periods may have been judged and reported in different ways. Always check the date of the inspection.
The published set of criteria and reporting arrangements Ofsted uses at a given time. The framework determines which judgements and grades, if any, appear in a report.
What this means for families
Because the framework has changed, some schools have an older-style overall grade, some have a newer report card style report, and some have no current published inspection at all.
A shorter Ofsted visit that checks on a school's progress or confirms whether standards are being maintained. It does not always produce a full set of graded judgements.
OfstedThe Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills — the body that inspects and reports on state-funded schools in England.
OfstedThe highest grade on the four-point scale used by Ofsted under frameworks that graded inspections.
What this means for families
Grades describe a school at the time of that inspection, under the framework then in use. An older grade may not reflect the school today.
A single summary grade Ofsted gave to a school under inspection frameworks that used one. It was not awarded under every framework, so it is not present in every report.
What this means for families
Where Fammove shows a single overall grade, it comes from an inspection carried out under a framework that awarded one. Where it does not, we show the individual judgements or the inspection date instead — we never infer a grade.
The third grade on the four-point Ofsted scale, indicating a school was not yet at the standard the framework described as good.
What this means for families
Schools graded this way are normally re-inspected, so check whether a more recent inspection has been published.
The arrangements a school has to protect children from harm and promote their welfare. Ofsted reports whether safeguarding arrangements are effective.
OfstedThe body responsible for setting and applying a school's admission arrangements — the local authority for most maintained schools, or the governing body or academy trust for academies, voluntary aided and foundation schools.
Department for EducationThe statutory lowest and highest ages a school admits.
Get Information About Schools (DfE)A geographic area used by some schools or local authorities as part of their admission arrangements. Not every school uses one.
What this means for families
Catchments can change year to year and living inside one does not guarantee a place. Always check the current admission arrangements with the admissions authority.
The official classification of a school in Get Information About Schools, such as community school, academy converter or voluntary aided school.
Get Information About Schools (DfE)A named school whose pupils are given priority in another school's oversubscription criteria, most often a primary school feeding a secondary school.
Department for EducationThe council responsible for state education in an area, including coordinating school applications and support for special educational needs.
Get Information About Schools (DfE)The full published inspection report for a school. It is the authoritative record — any summary, including a Fammove summary, is only a guide to it.
OfstedThe published, ranked rules a school uses to decide who gets a place when more people apply than there are places. Children with an EHC plan naming the school are admitted first, and looked after children have highest priority in the criteria.
Department for EducationThe number of places a school must offer in its main year of entry, published each year by its admissions authority.
Department for EducationThe number of pupils recorded on the school roll in the official school census.
Department for EducationThe permanent number the Department for Education gives every school, used to identify it across official datasets.
What this means for families
Fammove matches every school to its official records by URN, not by name, so a renamed school keeps its history.
A legal document issued by a local authority setting out a child's special educational needs and the provision required to meet them. It can name a specific school.
What this means for families
Where an EHC plan names a school, that school must admit the child, ahead of its other oversubscription criteria.
An ordinary state primary or secondary school that is not a special school. Mainstream schools also support pupils with special educational needs.
Department for EducationSpecialist places within a mainstream school, reserved for pupils with particular special educational needs, usually with an EHC plan.
Get Information About Schools (DfE)Support a school provides for a child with a learning difficulty or disability, where that support does not require an education, health and care plan. This is often called SEN support.
Department for EducationThe qualified teacher responsible for coordinating special educational needs provision in a school.
What this means for families
The SENCO is usually the right first contact if your child has additional needs.
The term covering children who need extra or different support because of a learning difficulty or disability.
Department for EducationDefinitions are plain-English explanations of official Department for Education and Ofsted terminology. Inspection frameworks and published measures change over time, so always check the date and framework of the underlying data on a school profile.