There was a slight (1.5 percentage point) increase in attainment among schools classifying themselves as free schools. Whether this is driven by existing free schools improving or new schools receiving results for the first time we will find out in due course.
We wouldn’t read too much into these figures at austria rcs data this stage. of 17 year olds, whereas results for schools will largely consist of 16 year olds. In addition, the categories are not mutually exclusive. Many selective (grammar) schools are academies, for example. It would be better to wait for the DfE statistical release in October for analysis by centre type.
Regional differences remain… but they don’t tell the whole story
At regional level, there were barely any differences in results at grades 9-7 compared to 2023.
Across all regions, results across all regions were broadly in line with those in 2019. The exception is London, where attainment in 2024 was slightly higher. London seemed to weather the Covid-19 storm better than other regions, as we wrote this time last year.
That said, and as we wrote with Simon Burgess, the north/south divide in school performance is mostly a distraction. Most of the variation in school performance is very local, between nearby schools.