Colour-coded schools: How does it work?

Under the new ranking system, schools are categorised as green, yellow, amber or red according to their performance. Here are the definitions for each colour grouping:

Green - the best schools which:

• know themselves well and identify and implement their own priorities for own priorities for improvement

• have resilience within the staff team

• are rewarded by greater autonomy

• will be challenged to move towards or sustain excellence

• have the capacity to lead others effectively (school to school support.)

Yellow - good schools which:

• will know and understand most of the areas in need of improvement

• have many aspects of the schools performance which are self-improving

• will receive bespoke challenge and support deployed according to need.

Amber - schools in need of improvement which:

• do not know and understand all the areas in need of improvement

• have many aspects of the schools performance which are not improving quickly enough

• will receive bespoke challenge and intervention deployed according to need

• will receive an automatic letter from consortium

• self-evaluation and school improvement plan will be signed off by consortium

• will be expected to remain an amber category for only the short-term

• will receive time limited, focused challenge and intervention to support improvement or and be at the risk of dropping to the red category.

Red - schools in need of the greatest improvement which:

• will receive critical intervention

• receive an automatic warning letter from local authority and subsequent use of statutory powers where necessary

• trigger intensive and effective collaboration between local authority and consortium

• trigger the 'all-Wales common school causing concern' arrangements

• will lose autonomy and be subject to a more directed approach.