Level 3-5 KS2 data

Summary

The requester sought Isle of Man KS2 attainment data for academic years 2012-13 to 2016-17 across five disciplines with gender breakdowns. The Department of Education provided an overview table for the requested years, explaining the calculation method for 'English' data and directing the requester to school-specific websites for detailed individual school statistics.

Key Facts

• The aggregated 'English' data is calculated from an equally weighted amalgamation of Speaking & Listening, Reading, and Writing components.
• Level 3 data is no longer required to be analyzed across all schools by the Education Improvement Service (EIS).
• The Department noted that the requester has made 16 FOI requests since January 1, 2017, with 9 submitted in the past 6 months.
• The Department advised that future requests should cover only one clearly defined topic to reduce administrative burden.
• Some data in the provided table differs slightly from Onchan Primary School's website due to corrective updates.

Data Disclosed

• 2017-11-30
• 2017-12-21
• 2012-13
• 2013-14
• 2014-15
• 2015-16
• 2016-17
• 27 detailed sets/sub sets of data
• 16 FOI requests
• 9 requests
• 100 sets or sub-sets of information
• Level 3
• Level 4
• Level 5+
• IM112114I
• IM72252I
• Decision Notice 003/13

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

21 December 2017

Dear

Re: Freedom of Information Request – Reference Number IM112114I

Your Request:-

The Headteacher of Onchan Primary School has published detailed data on that school’s website appertaining to the attainment of Year 6 pupils who completed KS2 in July 2017 (academic year 201617).

The data can be accessed here: https://onchan.sch.im/pages/index/view/id/1/School%20Information

There is also data for overall IOM performance regarding the number of pupils achieving Level 3, 4 and 5+ in the following disciplines:

Speaking & Listening Reading Writing Mathematics Science

This overall Island data is further broken down by achievement on a gender basis.

Could you please provide me the same whole Island data for each of the areas listed above (Speaking & Listening, Reading, Writing etc and including gender breakdown) for the following academic years:

2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Department of Education Sport and Culture

Rheynn Ynsee, Spoyrt as Cultoor Chief Executive Officer Ronald Barr

Furthermore, where the Department holds Island overall attainment levels (L3, L4 and L5+) for “English” (presumably an amalgamation of Speaking & Listening, Reading and Writing on a weighted basis) please provide that information (including gender breakdown). It would be helpful and appreciated if there is an explanation of how the “English” data is calculated.

Department Response:-

Since submission of your request on 30 November 2017 we have corresponded with you to explain the likely burden upon the Department in compiling what amounts to 27 detailed sets/sub sets of data in the format you are requesting. (A breakdown of data across 5 disciplines across 5 academic years, by gender and an explanation of how the English component is weighted.)

In order to provide advice and assistance as required by the Freedom of Information Act 2015 we have also tried to remove potential practical refusal reasons around your request by seeking to clarify which specific items of information you require.

In reply, you explained that all of the information across all 4 of the above mentioned academic years is of interest to you, as well as the information for the additional 2016-17 academic period. You do however state that you are prepared to accept ‘for now’* the all Island overview information available to parents as part of the annual pupil reports.

The Department is able to provide information in the enclosed table.

Notes 1. The aggregated ‘English’ data is calculated from an equally weighted amalgamation of the Speaking & Listening, Reading and Writing components. 2. Some of the data in the table may differ slightly to some of the data published on the Onchan Primary school website as it has been subject to further review and a small number of corrective updates in the attached final version. 3. *It is the Department’s opinion that prior disclosure of certain information does not automatically set a precedent for similar future disclosures.

Level 3 data for individual schools was previously published by the Department in response to your Freedom of Information (FOI) request IM72252I in January 2017 as it was held as part of a one-off exercise by the Department’s Education Improvement Service (EIS) at that time. From this information you will be able to extract the details you are seeking by working out the average of the aggregated data.

For the 2016/17 academic period, individual school KS2 data is currently published on the Government website under each school name and you will similarly be able to calculate the averages yourself – this information can be accessed via the following link: https://www.gov.im/about-the-government/departments/education-sport-and- culture/information-and-publications/a/

For future reference please note that the EIS has decided that level 3 data is no longer required to be analysed across all schools.

Section 3 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 defines the purpose of the Act to enable Isle of Man residents to obtain access to information in accordance with the following principles:

“a) the information should be available to promote the public interest; and b) exceptions to the right of access are necessary to maintain a balance with rights to privacy, effective government and value for the taxpayer”.

Since 1 January 2017 you have made 16 FOI requests to the Department, with 9 of these requests having been submitted to the Department within the past 6 months. In the requests you have made you have sought in excess of 100 sets or sub-sets of information. You will appreciate that these requests have placed a considerable burden on the Department.

In future, any requests should cover only one, clearly defined topic, and not consist of many parts. I would therefore reiterate the guidance provided to you in my email of 7 December 2017 in relation to multi-part FOI requests. This guidance can be also be viewed at www.inforights.im/information-centre/freedom-of-information/your-right-to-ask/how-do-i-make- a-request/make-the-most-of-your-request/.

In Decision Notice 003/13, the Information Commissioner provided the following good practice recommendations which you might find useful in formulating any future FOI requests

“98.
Public authorities should consider discouraging multi-question requests as this can create confusion for the public authority when dealing with the requests, or any subsequent review requests, and can impact on the time taken for compliance. In addition, the requester may also become confused with the responses provided.
99.
Requesters are, of course, entitled to make more than one request at a time, but should be encouraged, through advice and assistance, to make separate requests.”

Following this guidance will help to ensure that any future requests are clearly understood, can be responded to and that they do not meet the frequent, overlapping, burdensome, frivolous or unreasonably persistent criteria outlined in the Code of Practice on Freedom of Information Act 2015 (the Code) issued by Council of Ministers. In adhering to section 2.1 of the Code (which can be found at www.gov.im/about-the-government/freedom-of-information/our-response-to- your-request/code-of-practice/) before the Department can refuse to provide the information it must:
 Ascertain whether a practical refusal reason exists because a request for information is vexatious, malicious, frivolous, misconceived or lacking in substance; and
 Attempt to remove the practical refusal reason by the provision of advice and assistance to the Applicant.
The Code also sets out the indicators when considering whether a request is vexatious, malicious, frivolous, misconceived or lacking in substance (section 2.4).

Finally, you will be aware of the Department’s policy not to adopt league tables in relation to performance data for local schools and you may find the overview paper in the following link to be of interest to you: https://www.gov.im/media/1359585/arguments-against-league-tables- december-2017.pdf

The information provided within this response letter will also be published on the Government website in due course should you wish to revisit the information.

If you are unhappy with this response to your Freedom of Information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a Review/Complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post to:

Mr Andrew Shipley, Legal and Administration Manager, Hamilton House, Peel Road, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 5EZ.

An electronic version of our Review/Complaint form can be found by going to the website www.gov.im/foireview .

FoI IM112114I, December 2017

Attainment data – KS2 pupils (All)