Monitoring pupil progress

Look at the data

Interrogate the data you get from senior leaders to monitor progress. 

You should have a basic understanding of what the data means, but senior leaders should have also analysed the data so you know exactly what you’re looking at.

Be clear on what ‘good progress’ looks like

Work with senior leaders so you know what ‘good progress’ looks like for your school – there’s no single definition.

One way you can do this is attend a pupil progress meeting (you might do this virtually) – this will give you a better understanding of how the school identifies progress and what they define as 'good progress'.

If you have a clear idea of what to expect, you can monitor more effectively.

Look at progress made throughout the year

All classes will be set targets at the beginning of the year and your school will have a system in place to monitor progress against these targets.

Progress data should be reported to you at least once a term, either at a full governing board meeting or through a committee.

Your school will have its own "data drops", where assessment data is collected and collated, scheduled throughout the year. Try to schedule your meetings shortly after the data drops so you can analyse data in a timely and effective way.

Be cautious when looking at progress over time

Use end-of-year data such as Key Stage 4 data to look at progress over time. Use this data to identify struggling cohorts and any other long-term trends.

For most schools, attainment has dipped following the pandemic. When you look at the data you'll want to see that results are improving and that school leaders have a good idea of where the school's weaknesses are and what they're doing to improve this.

Discuss pupil progress with teachers

Talk to senior leaders to arrange a good time to do this – certain times of the year will be better for teachers than others.

Who’s involved?

• Link governors – typically link governors for a particular subject will feed back to the rest of the board
• Any other governor tasked with monitoring pupil progress
• Class teachers, subject leaders and the senior leadership team 

This can enable you to see whether your school is implementing any policies or plans designed to improve pupil progress and how they are working in practice.

Remember, you shouldn't be using visits to assess the quality or method of teaching or extent of learning.

To get ideas of what to ask teachers during these conversations, take a look at our:

• Questions to ask subject leaders 
• Subject-tailored link governor articles

Conduct book monitoring – if it's practical to do so

Book monitoring isn't an essential part of monitoring progress and not all boards do it. 

If you do decide to look at books, remember you're not judging the quality of progress or quality of teaching.

Book monitoring can help you see:

• Evidence of pupils' progress
• The impact of any new approaches or schemes of learning
• If a marking policy is being followed

Before carrying this out, ask senior leaders or subject leaders what you should expect to see in books. For example, you may want to ask what progress in a particular subject would look like over time and ask them to show evidence of this in pupils' books.

Ask school leaders these questions about pupil progress

You can use these during meetings and visits to help you hold leaders to account.

Select the questions to see what to look for in the answers you get.

Download these questions to use in meetings and on visits

This downloadable version of the questions above includes the points to look for in answers, and has space for you to take notes.