Prior attainment: definition and summary

Prior attainment is used to work out pupils’ progress scores. Be clear on the process and which pupils are categorised as high, middle or low attainers, so you're clear when analysing your data.

Last reviewed on 19 August 2024See updates
School types: AllSchool phases: Primary, SecondaryRef: 8576
Contents
  1. What is prior attainment?
  2. KS2
  3. KS4

What is prior attainment?

Prior attainment is used to assess and calculate pupil progress – e.g. between KS1 and KS2, and then between KS2 and KS4. 

In KS2 and KS4 performance tables, pupils are categorised as high, middle and low attainers based on their prior attainment in KS1 (for KS2 performance tables) and KS2 (for KS4 performance tables). 

If you’re looking for the whole process of calculating pupil progress scores, see our articles for primary and secondary.

KS2

Prior attainment is part of steps 3, 4 and 5 of calculating a pupil’s progress score – find the whole process in our article on calculating primary progress scores (see the section ‘how pupils’ progress scores are calculated’).

A pupil's teacher assessment outcomes in reading, writing and maths at KS1 are converted into point scores  These scores are then used to calculate a KS1 average point score (APS) The KS1 APS is used to determine a