Keep the presentation short: what happened, how it compares, what needs investigating and what happens next.
A useful results presentation does not need dozens of charts.
Senior leaders and governors usually need four things: what happened, how it compares, what appears significant and what you are doing next.
Lead with a small number of important measures. Show student numbers as well as percentages. Compare with national outcomes and previous cohorts where appropriate. Separate established findings from possible explanations.
Finish with a small number of actions.
Your opening should establish:
This gives every subsequent percentage some context.
For GCSE this might include grades 7+, 5+ and 4+.
For A-Level it might include A*, A*–A, A*–B and A*–E.
Include the complete distribution somewhere, but do not make your audience decode a huge spreadsheet during the presentation.
For each important measure, you might show:
Make it clear where cohort size means that a movement represents only one or two students.
A strong presentation distinguishes between evidence and hypothesis.
For example:
Finding: Grade 7+ increased from 22% to 29%.
Context: The cohort contained 28 students rather than 36 last year.
Question: Is the improvement broad-based or concentrated among a small number of students?
Next evidence: Review individual grades and question-level performance.
That is much more credible than jumping immediately to a causal explanation.
Results analysis is not only about finding weaknesses.
Identify where the department appears to have performed particularly well and consider whether there is practice worth preserving or extending.
A strong final slide can simply contain:
What we will maintain
What we will investigate
What we will change
Avoid creating ten improvement priorities from one examination cohort.
Results should inform improvement planning, not overwhelm it.
The tutor2u Exam Results Explorer provides national grade distributions by qualification, subject, exam board and year.
Last checked August 2026. This is a plain-English summary of official guidance; always check the linked Ofqual, JCQ and exam-board pages for the definitive rules, which can change.
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