Value added: Unlocking your child's academic potential
When evaluating a school’s academic performance, the most commonly showcased statistic is the percentage of top grades achieved (A*s and 9s). While these figures indicate what students have attained, they do not reveal the journey that led them there.
A school’s true impact is reflected in how well it elevates each student’s potential rather than just how many top-performing students it attracts. This requires a data-driven, tailored education approach that recognises individual capabilities and nurtures growth.
Value-added is an independently verified metric used to measure the value a school adds to a student’s educational development. Embley is in the top 1% for progress at A Level nationally and the highest level of progress of all schools within a 30-mile radius.
How is the data recorded?
Value-added is an independently verified metric that tracks academic progress by comparing a student’s predicted grades (based on baseline assessments taken upon entry to Senior School) with their actual GCSE or A Level results. Along with many other independent schools, all new students to Embley Senior School and Sixth Form sit a cognitive ability assessment using the Cambridge Centre for Evaluation & Monitoring (CEM) tools. The results are fed into a long-term project at Durham University that collects and analyses the baseline data.
Hundreds of thousands of children’s test scores have been compared with their GCSE and A Level results over the years, allowing Durham University to produce statistical predictions for each student.
How do we use the data?
The data provides an insight into each student’s likely academic trajectory and grade expectations. We use this as a baseline with the expectation that every student can do better. During every student’s journey at Embley, we continuously scrutinise patterns in their learning and skills and put in place targeted challenge or support mechanisms to help improve or maximise their performance and, in many cases, surpass expectations. Intensive rounds of tutoring and after school and weekend support sessions are replaced with more focused, granular and personalised progression pathways for each child. We never loose sight of their individuality and our approach is always driven by data.
Unlocking academic potential
Over time, value-added measures have shown that students who attend Embley consistently gain up to a whole grade above that which they may have achieved had they studied elsewhere.
Embley is ranked in the top 1% of schools nationally across all subjects at A Level, and it is in the top 1% for English and Maths at A Level. We help children to be their best, achieve their potential and, in many cases, take them beyond what statistics say they can do.
Beyond academics
To help ready a child for life, there is another less measurable aspect of our value-added: the development of quality of character. At Embley, we believe that success is not just about academic achievement but about developing well-rounded, happy and compassionate individuals.
Guided by the Embley Compass, we cultivate 12 core skills and behaviours that underpin both academic and personal growth. This framework equips students with the confidence, resilience and integrity needed to navigate an ever-changing world.
We help students to learn more about themselves. We encourage students to step outside their comfort zones, to feel purposefully uncomfortable as they embrace new experiences, and view mistakes as valuable learning opportunities. In doing so, they not only enhance their own potential but develop qualities that will serve them beyond the classroom. Ultimately, this is how we help our students add value to themselves.