Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 Track Update for 2024 Exam Year

We are pleased to announce that the Students have now been submitted to the Department for Education (DfE) for linking to their Key Stage 4 (GCSE) and Key Stage 5 (A Level/Level 3) 2024 exam results in the National Pupil Database (NPD).

Following the linking process, the Students and their matched attainment outcomes from the NPD will then be made available to us in the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) Secure Research Service (SRS), where we will prepare your member-level datasets.

Once ready, the datasets will then be made available to each member alongside a Power BI Dashboard to visualise the results, supporting you to analyse the impact of your pre-16 (KS4) and post-16 (KS5) outreach activities on participants’ exam attainment.

Which Students were extracted and submitted for tracking?

In order for a Student to eligible for tracking, HEAT requires certain criteria to be met and fields to be completed on their record by the extract deadline. More information on the eligibility criteria for Students to be included is available in the Data Update released ahead of the deadline for the KS4 and KS5 Track for the 2024 exam year.

Additionally, our User Guides provide in-depth information as to which Student and Activity records are included in the Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 Track. These User Guides can be downloaded using the following File Store links (members only):

• Key Stage 4 Attainment Track User Guide
• Key Stage 5 Attainment Track User Guide

When were the Student and Activity records extracted from the database?

Typically, Student and Activity records are uploaded by members by the end of November each year, and eligible data is extracted from the database by the HEAT team shortly thereafter.

For the 2024 exam year, we have been fortunate to have the opportunity to refresh our Student and Activity extract with a more recent version of the data before submitting the Students to the DfE for linking. As such, the eligible Student and Activity records included in the KS4 and KS5 Track for the 2024 exam year were extracted from the database on the 4^th of June 2025. This means that any Students which met the criteria for tracking and were attached to an Activity record by the 4^th of June 2025 will have been included in the extract.

As a result of the extract being refreshed with more recent data, we have the advantage of a shorter timeframe between extraction and submission for linking, resulting in more up-to-date data being used.  This has resulted in an increase of approximately 1,400 students being added to the KS4 Track and an increase of approximately  21,000 students being added to the KS5 Track, compared to the extract taken in December 2024.