Best composite score for KS2 overall test result for the years 2014-2016.

[LucyGoldsmith]

Question / Problem statement

Please can you recommend the best composite score for KS2 overall test result for the years 2014-2016. There are a number of composite variables to choose from and one likely candidate has good data coverage for 2014 and 2015; another has good data coverage for 2015 and 2016. Any advice would be really appreciated!

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[klharron]

Hi Lucy
Which variables are you considering?
We've used ks2_matmrk and ks2_mattomrk for maths and ks2_readmrk for English for one of our studies. You will want to ensure that you are standardising within years though, to make the scores comparable across years.
Katie

[zcabh35]

Howdy

I've previously used mathematics and this has been published with the following justification:

"We choose mathematics scores as these scores are externally validated and are considered more objective when compared to other assessment subjects such as English. They have also been shown to better predict later Maths and English outcomes than English at KS2 [15]"

Ths is reference 15: https://ffteducationdatalab.org.uk/2024/10/how-valuable-are-end-of-year-tests-for-predicting-pupils-future-achievement/