Progress 8 tracks how much progress pupils make between the end of primary school (Key Stage 2) and the end of secondary school (Key Stage 4) when they sit their GCSEs.

The score is calculated based on results in eight key subjects.

Introduced in 2016, Progress 8 is designed to give a fairer picture of school performance by focusing on student progress rather than just raw exam results.

• A score of 0 means students made average progress compared to pupils with similar starting points nationally.
• A score above 0 means students made better-than-average progress.
• A score of +0.5 or higher is considered well above average.
• A score below 0 indicates less progress than average, but this doesn’t mean pupils didn’t progress — just that progress was lower than expected based on prior attainment.

It’s also important to note that schools with slightly negative scores can still be classed as “average” if their confidence intervals span above and below zero.

Here’s how each secondary school in Blackpool ranks, according to the most recent Progress 8 data: