Move from “what happened?” to a small number of evidence-based priorities for teaching, curriculum and assessment.
Results analysis has limited value if it ends with a spreadsheet.
Its purpose is to help departments identify what should be maintained, investigated or improved.
The best action plans are usually shorter than the analysis that produced them.
Move through four stages:
What happened?
What might explain it?
What additional evidence do we need?
What will we do?
Do not skip directly from a percentage to an action.
Keep findings factual.
For example:
“Grade 7+ increased by six percentage points.”
“A larger proportion of students achieved grade 3 than nationally.”
“A*–B was broadly unchanged.”
“The difference between Paper 1 and Paper 2 marks widened.”
These describe the evidence without pretending to explain it.
Now generate hypotheses.
Did curriculum sequencing contribute?
Did students have enough practice with a particular question type?
Was teaching time disrupted?
Was the cohort materially different?
Did assessment evidence during the course point to the same issue?
A hypothesis is not yet a conclusion.
Useful evidence may include:
Sometimes the additional evidence shows that the original concern was not really a problem.
That is a successful piece of analysis too.
Actions should be specific enough to implement and evaluate.
Weak:
“Improve evaluation.”
Stronger:
“Introduce a common department approach to planning 12- and 20-mark evaluation responses and review its impact in the December assessment.”
Weak:
“Improve Paper 2.”
Stronger:
“Use script analysis to identify the three Paper 2 question types producing the largest gaps, then build additional practice into the spring assessment programme.”
Results analysis should also identify strengths.
If students perform consistently well in an area, understand why before changing it.
An improvement plan should include what the department intends to preserve.
One examination series rarely justifies a complete curriculum redesign.
Choose perhaps two or three priorities that are supported by evidence and can realistically be addressed.
Use the tutor2u Exam Results Explorer to understand your own grade distribution and compare it with national outcomes.
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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