Cwmtawe Community School has maintained consistently high performance over the last ten years. It is widely recognised as one of the highest performing schools in Wales.
In 2018,
Welsh Government has assessed school performance in two different ways over recent years. School Banding was used from 2011 to 2013. This was replaced by School Categorisation in 2014.
Between 2011 and 2013, Welsh Government grouped schools into five distinct bands based on their overall performance. Band 1 designated the highest performing, whilst Band 5 designated the lowest performing.
Cwmtawe’s banding for each of the years of operation is shown below.
|
2011 |
Band 1 |
|
2012 |
Band 1 |
|
2013 |
Band 1 |
From 2014, Welsh Government changed the method of assessing performance and providing support for schools. The highest category is ‘Green’, followed by ‘Yellow’, ‘Amber’ and ‘Red’.
Cwmtawe’s support category for each of the years categorisation has been in operation is shown below.
|
2014 |
Green |
|
2015 |
Green |
|
2016 |
Green |
|
2017 |
Green |
|
2018 |
Green |
To find out more about School Categorisation, please see the Parent’s Guide to School Categorisation which can be downloaded from Welsh Government’s website.
Parents who wish to compare Cwmtawe’s school performance with that of other schools may wish to consult Welsh Government’s website My Local School.
Over the last ten years, our pupils have excelled and the school has consistently performed within the top quarter of similar schools on most key performance indicators. Our main ‘headline’ performance statistics are illustrated below.
* Please note: Welsh Government changed performance measures in 2017 and pupils sat a new generation of GCSE examinations. Therefore, comparisons to previous years on many measures are unable to be made.
|
|
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
|
Level 2 threshold |
93% |
95% |
99% |
99% |
98% |
96% |
78% |
80% |
|
Level 1 threshold |
98% |
99% |
99% |
99% |
99% |
99% |
99% |
99% |
|
Level 2 threshold inc Eng/Ma |
54% |
60% |
68% |
66% |
67% |
66% |
56% |
69% |
|
Pupils achieving 1 or more A*-G |
98% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
|
English Level 2 |
68% |
68% |
76% |
75% |
77% |
74% |
74% |
79% |
|
Maths Level 2 |
61% |
69% |
75% |
71% |
73% |
72% |
62% |
72% |
|
Science Level 2 |
79% |
72% |
72% |
96% |
94% |
85% |
73% |
80% |
|
Core Subject Indicator (CSI) |
53% |
59% |
63% |
66% |
66% |
65% |
55% |
68% |
|
Average Point Score |
506 |
504 |
546 |
559 |
565 |
538 |
- |
- |
|
Capped Point Score |
358 |
361 |
371 |
369 |
374 |
368 |
351 |
- |
|
Pupils leaving with no recognised qualifications |
0% |
0% |
0% |
0% |
0% |
0% |
0% |
0% |
Every year, our Year 11 pupils achieve above expectations, known as ‘modelled outcomes’. The table below illustrates how pupils have performed above expectations in achieving the level 2 threshold (5 or more A*-C) including English and mathematics. If pupils performed in line with expectations, each value would be zero.
|
2010 / 2011 |
2011 / 2012 |
2012 / 2013 |
2013 / 2014 |
2014 / 2015 |
2015 / 2016 |
2016 / 2017 |
2017 / 2018 |
|
+7.2 |
+11.2 |
+17.3 |
+11.9 |
+9.1 |
+4.6 |
+0.9 |
TBC |
Over the past seven years, our pupils have achieved an average of 8.9 percentage points above expectations on the level 2 threshold including English and mathematics.
A pupil’s Capped Point Score is their best 8 GCSEs achieved. Each GCSE grade is assigned a score, so the higher the grades a pupil achieves, the higher their Capped Point Score will be. The table below illustrates how pupils have performed above expectations. Again, if pupils achieved in line with expectations, the value would be zero.
|
2010 / 2011 |
2011 / 2012 |
2012 / 2013 |
2013 / 2014 |
2014 / 2015 |
2015 / 2016 |
2016 / 2017 |
2017 / 2018 |
|
+41.4 |
+38.2 |
+32.1 |
+20.7 |
+21.6 |
+13.9 |
+20.1 |
TBC |
Over the past seven years, our pupils have achieved an average of 26.9 points above expectations.
As a school, we are more interested in ensuring all pupils reach their potential rather than raw statistics and measures. Value added is a better indicator of this. The term ‘value added’ is used to describe the progress pupils make over time and will measure how well pupils perform above and beyond the levels expected of them.
We use Welsh Government, CEM Yellis and Fisher Family Trust data to measure the progress pupils make in individual subject areas. Overall, pupils in nearly all subject areas achieve well above the levels achieved in other similar schools. In fact, CEM Yellis report that, on average, pupils achieve nearly one grade better in each GCSE at Cwmtawe than they would in another similar school.
Our pupils perform well in their key stage 3 assessments. Our key stage 3 curriculum provides a firm grounding for pupils’ GCSE studies and these assessments give an indication of progress along the way.
Our pupils’ performance at key stage 3 over the past five years is shown in the table below.
|
Core |
|
2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
|
English |
Sch |
81% | 83% | 85% | 90% | 90% | 91% | |
|
LA |
76% | 79% | 81% | 84% | 84% | 86% | ||
|
Nat |
79% | 83% | 83% | 88% | 89% | 90% | ||
|
Maths |
Sch |
79% | 84% | 85% | 91% | 92% | 95% | |
|
LA |
77% | 79% | 80% | 83% | 83% | 84% | ||
|
Nat |
81% | 84% | 84% | 89% | 90% | 91% | ||
|
Science |
Sch |
85% | 92% | 93% | 98% | 97% | 93% | |
|
LA |
79% | 83% | 84% | 88% | 89% | 89% | ||
|
Nat |
84% | 87% | 87% | 92% | 93% | 94% | ||
|
Core Subject Indicator (CSI) |
Sch |
72% | 79% | 80% | 86% | 87% | 90% | |
|
LA |
69% | 73% | 73% | 78% | 78% | 80% | ||
|
Nat |
72% | 77% | 77% | 84% | 86% | 87% | ||
|
Non Core |
2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
|
Art |
86% | 87% | 84% | 86% | 87% | 85% | ||
|
Design Technology |
85% | 89% | 91% | 93% | 96% | 95% | ||
|
Geography |
79% | 81% | 82% | 82% | 85% | 85% | ||
|
History |
82% | 89% | 90% | 96% | 95% | 90% | ||
|
ICT |
91% | 91% | 91% | 96% | 96% | 96% | ||
|
MFL |
79% | 74% | 79% | 90% | 88% | 78% | ||
|
Music |
74% | 91% | 90% | 95% | 96% | 94% | ||
|
PE |
75% | 81% | 84% | 88% | 91% | 92% | ||
|
Welsh 2nd Lang |
74% | 72% | 81% | 79% | 87% | 76% | ||
Regular school attendance is essential in ensuring pupils are able to achieve their potential. More information is available on the attendance page.
The attendance of pupils in Cwmtawe compares favourably with the local authority and Wales averages.
|
|
School 2016 / 2017 |
Local Authority 2016 / 2017 |
Wales 2016 / 2017 |
|
Attendance – all |
94.5% |
93.6% |
94.1% |
|
Attendance – boys |
94.6% |
93.5% |
94.2% |
|
Attendance - girls |
94.4% |
93.8% |
94.0% |
|
Unauthorised absence (*lower is better) |
1.1% |
1.7% |
1.4% |
|
Persistent Absence (*lower is better) |
16.6% |
23.0% |
22.8% |
The school works hard with pupils and their families to ensure regular attendance. Over the past ten years, our attendance has been within the top 30% of similar schools across Wales, and we have one of the lowest persistent absence rates in the country (pupils missing 20% of school sessions or more).
The school’s attendance has been above Welsh Government expectations (modelled outcomes) for each of the past five years.
Latest data from Careers Wales for 2017 indicates that most pupils remain in full time education after taking their GCSE examinations in Cwmtawe. Their final destination after leaving school is illustrated below.
|
Destination |
% |
No. of Pupils |
|
FT Education – FE College |
79.9% |
175 |
|
FT Education – 6th Form |
3.2% |
7 |
|
Employed |
3.7% |
8 |
|
Unable to enter training |
0.9% |
2 |
|
Not employed |
0.9% | 2 |
|
Work Based Training |
10.0% |
22 |
|
No Response as yet |
1.4% |
3 |
|
|
100% |
219 |
It is encouraging that nearly all (93%) of our pupils remain in full time education or training after leaving school.
