City Corporation ranked as top academy sponsor for helping disadvantaged pupils succeed

The City of London Corporation has been named as the best UK academy sponsor for a second year running for its work supporting pupils from low-income families to achieve top grades.

Today’s Sutton Trust’s report, Chain Effects 2018: The impact of academy chains on low-income pupils, looks at the impact of academy chains on the progress of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The report ranks the City of London Corporation’s sponsored academies as the top performing schools in the country in terms of Attainment 8 and Progress 8 at GCSE level, which track pupil achievement and progress.

The City Corporation sponsors or co-sponsors 10 academies across Hackney, Newham, Islington and Southwark. It also supports three independent schools and the City of London Academies Trust – the City Corporation’s multi-academy trust – runs its sole sponsored academies.

The social mobility charity’s ‘Chain Effects’ reports have been running for five years, with this year being the final in the series.

The 2018 report explores how disadvantaged pupils who have fallen behind at primary schools make more progress by GCSE stage in sponsored academy chains compared to other types of school.

The five-year analysis shows a small number of chains have demonstrated consistent year-on-year improvement in the ranking while some others have fallen or fluctuated. Academy sponsor the City of London Corporation was one of three chains judged as consistently high in the ranking when looking at overall performance.

Andrew McMurtrie, Chair of the City of London Academies Trust, said:

“We are proud to be recognised for our work supporting students from some of the capital’s most disadvantaged backgrounds.

“We aim to ensure that young Londoners have access to the best learning opportunities, empowering them to make a positive contribution to their communities.

“These results reflect the hard work and aspiration of students, their families and all the staff across our academies. I am exceptionally proud of what we are achieving together.”

Henry Colthurst, Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s Education Board said:

“My congratulations go to the students, their families and to all the staff across our academies.

“These findings are testament to the ambition and determination put in by everyone at our academies throughout this academic year.

“These schools are delivering life-transforming education and we are fullycommitted to providing access to world-class education for young Londoners.”

The Sutton Trust’s Chain Effects 2018 report can be found here.

The City of London Corporation sponsors, co-sponsors or governs the following schools:

Co-sponsored academies

• City of London Academy, Islington (co-sponsor City University)
• The City Academy, Hackney (co-sponsor KPMG)

City of London Academies Trust:

• City of London Academy (Southwark)
• Redriff Primary, City of London Academy
• Galleywall Primary, City of London Academy
• City of London Primary Academy Islington
• City of London Academy Highgate Hill
• City of London Academy Highbury Grove
• City of London Academy Shoreditch Park
• Newham Collegiate Sixth Form Centre City of London Academy

Local Authority maintained school:

• Sir John Cass’s Foundation Primary School

Independent:

• City of London School
• City of London School for Girls
• City of London Freemen’s School

The City of London Corporation is committed to providing outstanding education opportunities for all Londoners.

The City of London Corporation family of schools has one maintained primary school and 10 sponsored or co-sponsored academies in neighbouring boroughs. It also supports three independent schools.

Progress 8

Progress 8 aims to capture the progress a pupil makes from the end of primary school to the end of secondary school. It is a type of value added measure, which means that pupils’ results are compared to the actual achievements of other pupils with the same prior attainment. The performance measures are designed to encourage schools to offer a broad and balanced curriculum with a focus on an academic core at key stage 4, and reward schools for the teaching of all their pupils, measuring performance across 8 qualifications. Every increase in every grade a pupil achieves will attract additional points in the performance tables.

Attainment 8

Attainment 8 measures the achievement of a pupil across 8 qualifications including mathematics (double weighted) and English (double weighted), 3 further qualifications that count in the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) measure and 3 further qualifications that can be GCSE qualifications (including EBacc subjects) or technical awards from the DfE approved list.