Pippa Hebborn-Gibson to Ed Humpherson: Request to cancel Accredited Official Statistics status for the Compare School and College Performance (CSCP) service and its replacement 

Published:

Sent from: Department for Education

Sent to: Office for Statistics Regulation

Dear Ed,

Request to cancel Accredited Official Statistics status for the Compare School and College Performance (CSCP) service and its replacement

I am writing to inform you of the decommissioning of the Compare School and College Performance (CSCP) service, which has Accredited Official Statistics status. We will not be seeking accreditation of its replacement, Find and Compare School and College Profiles (FCSCP). I am, therefore, seeking your agreement to cancel the Accredited Official Statistics status associated with CSCP and its replacement.

As part of the change in services, the statistics that were historically accessed through CSCP as their primary source are now published through Accredited Official Statistics releases on Explore Education Statistics (EES). The new service, therefore, functions as a platform that brings together published information in a single place for users rather than a statistical release in its own right.

The underlying data available through FCSCP will continue to be drawn from the following Accredited Official Statistics:

  • Key stage 2 attainment
    • Key stage 4 performance
    • 16 to 19 performance
    • KS4 and 16 to 19 destinations
    • Pupil absence in schools in England
    • Special education needs in England

This builds on work we have been undertaking since the Office for Statistics Regulation’s review of Key Stage 4 performance statistics in July 2022. The review highlighted the need for the Department to improve the distinction between Key Stage 4 accountability measures and the wider Key Stage 4 statistics. We believe that publishing the underlying statistics through Accredited Official Statistics releases, while positioning FCSCP as a service for presenting published information to support parental choice, aligns with the intent of that recommendation and provides a clearer separation between statistical publication and presentation of accountability measures.

Yours sincerely,

Pippa Hebborn-Gibson

Head of Data Insight and Statistics & Head of Profession for Statistics