FFT - Aspire Pupil Tracking

Sean Green explains how GL Assessment’s range of standardised assessments can be used with FFT’s Aspire Pupil Tracking to track pupil, group and whole-school progress.

FFT is a non-profit organisation, established in 2001 as part of the Fischer Family Trust. We are focussed on providing accurate and insightful information to schools which enables pupils to achieve their full potential and schools to improve. FFT Education has worked closely with schools for over 20 years, providing detailed analysis of student performance, forward looking estimates and an overview of pupils’ outcomes, school enrolments and attendance within the English school system. The wealth of information that this provides supports schools in highlighting clear areas for development, in addition to identifying students, subjects and groups in need of support and intervention. FFT’s unique estimates, incorporating multiple levels of challenge, are used by thousands of schools to set challenging yet realistic targets at an individual pupil, subject, group, cohort and whole school level.

In 2018 FFT worked with its partners to develop and launch Aspire Pupil Tracking, and this customer driven product continues to evolve. Aspire Pupil Tracking, which is part of all FFT Aspire primary subscriptions, allows schools to enter outcomes for a range of standardised tests or teacher assessments in order to assess current performance against end of Key Stage estimates. Results are converted into a common currency of scaled scores that mirrors the DFE outcomes for end of Key Stage assessments. These are then compared to FFT’s estimates so teachers and schools can visualise, monitor and track individual pupils, subjects, class groups and cohorts over time, immediately seeing how current progress compares to expected end of Key Stage outcomes. Alongside the ‘Assessment Tracker’ sits the ‘Curriculum Tracker’. Schools use this to record their formative, subject level assessment data. Standard curriculum templates are available for all National Curriculum subjects, or bespoke curriculum objectives can easily be added. This level of objective, benchmarked information has been crucial for schools as they emerge from the academic and emotional challenges that the last two years have brought, allowing them to quickly identify where pupils, classes or subjects may need additional support.
For more information about Aspire Pupil Tracking please visit fft.org.uk/pupil-tracking.

We are delighted that GL Assessment’s range of standardised assessments; known, used and trusted by tens of thousands of schools across the UK and internationally, form a key part of the suite of assessments that school can administer to make optimum use of this service. Schools can input student outcomes from GL Assessment’s Progress Test Series in English and in maths, as well as New Group Reading Test (NGRT) and New Group Spelling Test (NGST). Students’ marks are then instantly converted to our common currency (scaled scores), providing a live view of progress and also allowing teachers and schools to contextualise performance against other standardised tests and teacher assessments. The breadth and depth of this information provides a robust and clear picture of progress over time from a range of assessments, ensuring that subsequent discussions around support and intervention are based on a suitably broad range of evidence.

FFT and GL Assessment have worked closely together for many years, and the partnership continues to strengthen. We provide a joint GCSE Value-Added service for independent schools, international schools and state-funded schools in Northern Ireland, which analyses attainment and value-added GCSE performance using CAT4 data.  Over the last 2 years we have supported schools through the issues faced by the lack of end of KS2 assessment data with our CAT4 Transition Service. Schools have been able to input CAT4 assessment scores and have received subject specific end of KS4 estimates. Over 1,500 secondary schools were involved in 2020/21 and numbers have risen further this year. In addition to the return of end of KS2 assessments this year, schools have requested that this service remains so they can continue to benefit from the level of detail it provides at a pupil, group, subject and cohort level. In addition, FFT will continue to provide results services across all Key Stages to give schools an early view of their attainment and value-added progress data, as well as a full national results analysis. These services support a school’s self-evaluation as well as providing estimates for students who are transitioning from one Key Stage to another.

To find out more about our product and services, please visit fft.org.uk.