Results Day: Beyond the numbers - How I analyse, reflect and plan for the year ahead

Back in January, I shared a blog on Improving GCSE Performance Post-Mocks (link here). Yesterday, I came across a LinkedIn post from Tom Rogers highlighting how many of us are now turning our attention to GCSE results. It inspired me to write this piece, aimed mainly at subject leaders who are preparing to analyse and reflect on their results and to plan the next steps for the year ahead.

Results Day is approaching fast. Whether you’ve been through it many times before or this is your very first time as a Subject Leader, Head of Languages, or Curriculum Lead, you’ll soon be diving into the data, analysing the outcomes and reporting them to your Headteacher, Principal and Progress Manager.

If you’ve been in the role for a while, you’ll know the drill; the systems, the spreadsheets, the conversations, the key figures to pull out. But if you’re new to the role, it can feel overwhelming. Where do you even start? What’s important?

Over the years, I’ve developed a process that helps me make sense of the results and turn them into actionable next steps for my team and my department.

credit: freepik

Here’s how I approach it:

Step 1: Start with the basics

Before diving deeper, I work out the fundamental figures for every language taught at the Academy / school. What happened and what was expected to happen?

• How many 4+, 5+ and 7-9 grades did the cohort achieve?

• What are the SPIs and residuals

• Which students are with 1 mark off the next grade

• Break these down for each language.

Next, I look at significant groups. Depending on your context, this might include:

• Male vs female

• Pupil Premium (PP)

• EAL (English as an Additional Language)

• SEND

• High Attainers (HA)

If you’re new to the school, I recommend analysing all significant groups at first to get an idea about your new department's current situation. If you have a Department Development Plan (DDP), you might focus particularly on the groups linked to your last academic year's targets first.

Then I compare them with:

• The previous year’s results

• The national JCQ grade distribution by subject (once released)

• Trust-wide data (if you’re part of a MAT and it’s available)

This year and next year, there’s no need to look at Progress 8, but I will check our internal tracking and predictions to see how accurate they were.

Step 2: Use your systems and processes

At my academy, we use SISRA Analytics, which calculates a lot of these figures automatically. Hopefully, your school has a similar system - it will save hours. I still break the data down by class and specific target groups to spot trends more clearly.

What were the positives? What strategies worked well and had a positive impact? What will you continue to implement?

Step 3: Go beyond the headline data

Headline numbers are useful, but they don’t tell the whole story. The real value comes when you drill into the why.

Read the examiners’ reports for each paper. If you’re with Edexcel, Results Plus is invaluable as it breaks down performance by paper, by class, by student, even by question. AQA will have its own equivalent, if you are with AQA.

Results Plus link: https://www.resultsplusdirect.co.uk/ResultsPlus/Default.aspx. You should have your own log in, if not, speak to your exam officer.

From there, I carry out a Question-Level Analysis (QLA):

• Which paper caused the most difficulty?

• What types of questions tripped students up?

• Were there specific knowledge (grammar), skills or topics (vocabulary) that repeatedly caused issues?

I break the averages down by class, then feed this into our instructional coaching programme or department meeting's agenda. This allows me to work with teachers on:

• Identifying their own development priorities

• Linking these to curriculum or pedagogy targets (these could be a part of their appraisal for the academic year)

• Supporting them to apply this learning with their new groups starting in September

I also compare these figures to last year’s averages and the targets we set for the year just gone.

Have we improved? If so, where? What are the negatives? Do we know why? What strategies didn't work? What new strategies do we need to implemeny to address the issues or concerns?

Step 4: Dig deeper – grade boundaries, feedback & scripts

Once I’ve looked at the question-level breakdown, I check the feedback on the papers  - were they generally considered easier or more difficult this year? Then I look at the grade boundaries. Have they shifted significantly compared to last year?

Next, I identify the stand-out performances:

• Students who achieved full marks or the highest scores on the most challenging questions in Listening and Reading

• Students who achieved the highest or full marks in Speaking and Writing

If the results in these areas are not what we expected, particularly if they’re worse than anticipated, I would request the papers back from the exam board. Yes, you may end up requesting a few, but it’s definitely worthwhile. Seeing these responses first-hand will be invaluable when planning your department’s development and improvement actions for the year ahead.

Step 5: Set action points – Quick Wins & Long-Term Goals

When it comes to my DDP, I always think in two categories:

1. Quick Wins – strategies we can implement and see an impact within one, two or three terms. Examples:

   • Explicit teaching of pronunciation/phonics

   • More effective structures for picture description

   • Improving prediction skills in listening and reading

2. Long-Term Goals – strategies that need to be built over years, often useful starting in KS3. Examples:

   • Improving listening comprehension

   • Building fluency in speaking

Choose 2–3 short-term strategies and 1–2 long-term priorities. Don’t overload, spreading too thin means achieving little. Map out long-term goals over 1–2 years and envision what progress will look like at midpoints.

Step 6: Lead with empathy

As leaders, we must remember that for teachers, results feel personal. Each grade represents a student they’ve supported, worried about and championed. Listen to how your team is feeling. Celebrate successes. Value their insights and ideas.

Finally, and this is important: Grades are only part of the picture; the bigger story is the journey behind them. Languages are more than grades and results. They’re culture, connection and a way of seeing the world. Good grades are worth celebrating, but so are the many intangible wins your students and department has achieved this year.

If we view Results Day not solely as a verdict but as a chance to learn, reflect, and refine our practice, we can ensure that each year both our students and our teaching move forward.

Returning to the LinkedIn post and the very real anxiety this day can bring, I want to close with a comment from Maud Waret that will strike a chord with many of us: "... My duty was to teach them throughout the year and give them the help they needed. After that, they are flying on their own, I can’t flap their wings for them."

Download your Subject Leader's checklist:

Results Day Checklist – MFL Subject Leader.odt

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