New from Insight Inform: The Mechanics of Progress

@jpembroke takes a look at the nuts and bolts of primary progress, explaining how these measures work.

insightinform.co.uk/2026/11/02/the…

Please read, comment and repost!

New from me: Making Progress in Primary Education

I take a look at the return of Progress Measures, and what this means for Primary schools in the latest Insight Inform blog.

insightinform.co.uk/2026/09/18/mak…

Please read, comment and repost!

Great to finally see @adamboxer1 in action at @EducationFest yesterday, with an excellent demonstration of supercharging questioning at @EvidenceInEdu‘s Big Orange Tent.

If you have been at EdFest, which speakers/stands impressed you?

Looking forward to discussing England's Lessons in Student Data from the last decade at #rEDScan this Saturday! #Haninge
#researchED

Join @jpembroke and me as we look under the hood of the IDSR in the latest Insight Inform podcast.

insightinform.co.uk/podcast/

Please listen, comment and repost!

Looking forward to discussing the new Ofsted toolkit and DfE performance measures, amongst other things, at Databusting Derbyshire on Friday 27th February.

Join @jpembroke & me as we bring our latest Databusters Day to Ashover.

More detail and tickets: insightinform.co.uk/event/databust…

And gov.uk/government/pub… guidance means that grading Achievement ‘Needs Attention’ will trigger further inspection from Ofsted…

This was the obvious concern when the Toolkit was published. This section guarantees that a large number of schools will not reach the Expected Standard.

It’s Thursday at BETT and we’re at Stand SL54 in the @wearewonde Marketplace once again!

You are here, come and talk all things school data over a Wonde Coffee ☕️

@Bett_show #BettUK2026 #DiscoverEdtech #WondeDiscover

It’s time for #WondeDiscover #DiscoverEdtech #BettUK2026

Looking forward to three days of madness with @InsightHQ - we’re on SL54, if you’re here, come and say hello!

Out and about with @InsightHQ today - at the Norfolk School Leaders Annual Conference, kicking off with @miss_mcinerney’s Key Note, ‘Education Trends 2025: What’s coming now and next?’

#Fridayfive is still going strong, but is over on BlueSky 👍
This week’s:

Enjoyed Chapter 1, and the Spotify Playlist. I can’t listen to Perfect Skin without hearing this remix in my head…

The musical revolution of the late 80s was extraordinary; this is a great example of the shock of the new 😎

youtu.be/WOVzOgGQNTI?si…

Sam Martin - @MrsMartinKennet - talking about building an effective and balanced assessment model, kicking off by discussing the problem with progress…

#rED25

If you want to find out about how you might harness technology in your school, definitely worth seeking out Emily Hobson of Oasis, who’s passionate, knowledgeable and insightful about the subject 👏👏👏

Given the ASCL conference laughed at Martin Oliver when he suggested his proposed new Ofsted Framework wouldn’t add to schools’ workloads, looking forward to seeing what teachers at the #FestivalofEducation think.

Session 3 at #researchED Bournemouth comes with the excellent title ‘Why are students do bad at learning?’ - Amarbeer Singh Hill asks why it is so difficult to know exactly what students have learned.

Kicking off the afternoon with @ClareSealy exploring oracy in education at #researchEd Bournemouth

Looking at EdTech for Equity - dissolving barriers for SEND with Chris Jackson & Joe Jackson-Taylor from hosts Avonwood Primary at #researchED Bournemouth

Osi Ejiofor kicking off sessions, looking at unlocking the potential of digital tools in the classroom
#researchED Bournemouth

Here we go! #researchedED Bournemouth today

Possibly my favourite form of CPD 😎

Fascinating crossover between the latest Mind the Gap podcast (Disengaged Children and How Schools Can Win Them Back with Jenny Anderson) & 100% Assessment's post 'Why does it matter what students believe about their ability?'

youtube.com/watch?v=8OSJFC…

Tom is back! Good to see and hear from
@teacherhead again, as he, @EmmaTurner75 and
@jonhutchinson discuss what’s changed—and what hasn’t—in education during Tom’s time away.

The Return of Tom with Emma and Jon, Mind the Gap, Ep.97 (S5,E13)

youtube.com/watch?v=VBZ18I…

If you are in school, a second window for applications for FREE TICKETS to the Festival of Education is open until 16 May:

educationfest.co.uk/tickets/free-t…

I'm speaking at12:45pm on Friday 4th July on What Every Teacher Should Know About Student Data - come along and say hello!

Looking forward to returning to EduGlastonbury, speaking at12:45pm on Friday 4th July on What Every Teacher Should Know About Student Data.

web.cvent.com/event/3c5f33a9…

New from me: Connecting the Dots

Ever wondered what the connect between MTC scores and KS2 Maths outcomes might be? I did some analysis of data entered into @InsightTracking to find out...

buff.ly/4k8Vg8E

The suggestion that 'good schools' are those with better-off high performing pupils is interesting, to say the least!

And yet many schools rated 'good' have many "challenging" pupils, despite the inspection regime.

This is a little more frustrating, however. Classifying schools which some parents prefer as 'better' without clarifying what 'better' might mean is a bit more problematic, I think

Whilst it's always interesting to read what the Sutton Trust has to say, it's also surprising to this see kind of thing - if you judge schools on the average performance of their intakes, then this is self-evident, surely?

Here’s a top tip for @lotuscars: If you’re going to invite potential consumers to test drive your EV Porsche/Audi competitor…

Have a car which the potential buyers - who you phoned twice and emailed two days before the test drive you advertised - can actually drive.

Fascinating @FFTEduDatalab blog about measuring reading fluency using grapheme-phoneme correspondence.
Really good to see data broken down using medians of quartiles, which gives a good sense of the degree of variation
buff.ly/4epsIni

Want an in depth update on Primary Assessment? Join @jpembroke & me on Wed 23rd Oct at 6pm for 'An Essential Guide to Primary Assessment', a free Insight Inform webinar. To register, see buff.ly/4dz3YZe

Fascinating analysis, as ever, from
@FFTEduDatalab

How attainment gaps between different groups of pupils change from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 4.

- The Age Effect reduces over time, but is present throughout.
- The disadvantage gap widens over time

buff.ly/4e7EgMB

Another good question. The answer, I suspect, is because schools don’t make as much difference as underlying societal and economic issues.

Very happy to see my Little Guide for Teachers to Using Student Data out in the wild in Manchester… 😎

Here’s the contents page, which gives you a bit of an overview of what’s inside.

A Little Guide for Teachers to Using Student Data - out this week - was an extremely satisfying book to write; it’s the book I wish I’d had when I began working in schools. It’s squarely aimed at those in the classroom and it’s packed full of hints and tips for busy teachers.

I've just been sent this - great to see my Little Guide getting out into the wild!

Looking forward to getting feedback from readers 😎

It’s publication week for my Little Guide to Using Student Data 😎

There has been a rapid rise in the percentage of students with EHCPs in recent years.

These sections of the Ofsted Inspection handbook are useful:

If you were ever in any doubt about the inspirational power of the arts and education, take a few minutes to watch this fabulous film. Try not to cry.
youtube.com/watch?v=g17zfa…

Love Orbital, especially live.

During Impact (The Earth lies Burning) I always sing ‘There’s nothing better than Leeds, West Yorkshire’ in my head; I’ve been known to sing this out loud…

youtu.be/d1-z3Z9AZd8?si…

Interesting feedback from #DISCO2023 in Warrington yesterday:

The conclusion is good, even if it is worth noting that there are low attainers even in high performing schools (just not that many) and that almost no one would call them ‘Bad pupils in Good schools’.

The conclusion is good, even if it is worth noting that there are low attainers even in high performing schools (just not that many) and that almost no one would call them ‘Bad pupils in Good schools’.

It’s good to see pupil characteristics broadly out of schools control being examined: