School Ranking Methodology & Data Sources
Classpot uses published education data to make school comparisons easier to understand. Rankings are calculated from academic measures; schools cannot pay for a higher position.
Methodology reviewed: 3 August 2026
How academic rankings are calculated
Secondary schools
Schools are ordered by their published Progress 8 score. Progress 8 measures how much progress pupils make between the end of primary school and GCSEs, compared with pupils who had similar prior attainment.
Primary schools
Where all three KS2 progress measures are available, Classpot averages reading, writing and maths progress. If those progress measures are unavailable, the published percentage reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths is used instead. The metric used is shown on the school profile.
Nurseries
Nurseries do not have comparable KS2 or Progress 8 results and are not included in the academic league table. Nursery lists are ordered by the latest available Ofsted overall judgement, then by inspection recency. A high position is not a substitute for visiting a setting.
National, regional and local positions
Primary and secondary schools are calculated separately, so unlike phases are never compared. Within each phase, the same academic score is sorted from highest to lowest at three levels:
- all schools of that phase in England with the required published result;
- schools of that phase in the same English region;
- schools of that phase in the same local authority.
Percentile badges such as “Top 10%” are based on position divided by the number of schools with comparable data in that group. City “Top” tables use the same score, restricted to schools matching that city page.
Official data sources
KS2, KS4, Progress 8, attainment, absence and destination measures.
Official school identity, phase, governance, location and contact details.
Published national datasets and statistical releases.
Inspection reports, historical overall judgements and inspection dates.
Admissions figures and historical allocation distances may also come from local authority publications. The relevant year is shown on school pages where it is supplied by the source.
Ofsted percentages
“Good or Outstanding” percentages use only schools with one of the four historical overall judgements: Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement or Inadequate. Schools with no overall judgement are excluded from that percentage. Since overall judgements are not available for every newer inspection, category-level inspection information on individual profiles may be more recent.
Important limitations
- Official results are published with a delay and do not describe current pupils perfectly.
- Small cohorts and suppressed results can leave a school without a comparable rank.
- A ranking is not a personal recommendation and does not measure ethos, wellbeing, SEND fit or travel time.
- Independent-school coverage is limited where comparable DfE results are not published.
- Ofsted judgements and academic results measure different things and are not combined into one hidden score.
Choosing a school
Use rankings as a shortlist, then compare admissions, distance, inspection detail and the needs of your child. Visit schools before making a final decision.