Track progress drivers

Written for: Alternative provision staff.

Progress Drivers tracks each pupil’s progress in the areas your provision works on, such as confidence, wellbeing and life skills. Staff review a pupil against each area, using a levelled scale. A pupil’s first review becomes their baseline, and later reviews show how far they’ve moved while they’ve been with you.

Set up your progress framework

The first time anyone opens Progress Drivers, the page asks for a framework before anything can be recorded. Setting it up is for provision leaders.

1. In the sidebar, open Progress and choose Progress Drivers.
2. Click Set progress framework. Student Radar’s suggested framework is already filled in.
3. Under Progress sections, keep, change or remove the areas you review. You need between two and twelve. For each one, fill in:
   • its name, for example Emotional wellbeing
   • Table heading: a short version for tables, for example Wellbeing
   • What staff should look for: what progress in this area looks like
4. Click Add section to add an area, or the bin to remove one.
5. Check the Published version and Effective from date. The first time, the Comparison rationale (required) is already filled in for you.
6. Under Progress scale, describe each level, lowest first. You need between two and five, each with a Level name and What this means. Click Add level to add one.
7. Click Save framework.

You’ll see “New reviews will use the updated sections and scale.”

The suggested framework has eight sections, from Confidence & self-belief to Leadership & voice, and a five-level scale: Emerging, Developing, Establishing, Secure and Independent.

Change the framework later

Click Set progress framework at the top of the page. Reviews already recorded keep the framework they were recorded with. Under Comparison with the previous version, choose Comparable only if the sections and levels still mean the same thing, and explain why in Comparison rationale (required). If you choose Do not compare, Student Radar doesn’t calculate change across the two versions.

Record a review

1. Open Progress and choose Progress Drivers.
2. Find the pupil. Type in the search box, or use Missing baseline or No observations to find pupils who still need a review.
3. Click Record review on the pupil’s card.
4. Check the Review date. It starts on today, and it can’t be in the future. If a review already exists for that date, its levels load so you can correct them.
5. For each section, choose the level that fits, such as L3 · Establishing.
6. Under Evidence, say what you saw that supports these levels.
7. Click Save review.

You’ll see “Driver review recorded”.

The first review recorded for each section is the pupil’s baseline. Later reviews are compared with it, so make the first review a careful one.

Read a pupil’s progress

There are two ways to see the pupils:

• Pupil overview shows a card for each pupil with their latest level in each section, how many sections have a baseline, and their observed change.
• Compare measures shows a table with a column for each section. Each cell shows the pupil’s latest level and how far it has moved from the baseline, for example L4 +2. Click a cell to record a new review.

Click Open progress record, or the pupil’s name, to open their profile at their progress.

Read the whole-provision picture

Tile	What it shows
Baseline coverage	How many baselines are recorded, out of one for every section for every pupil on roll.
Observed change while supported	The average change in level from baseline to latest review, across sections that can be compared.
Missing baseline measures	Baselines still to record.
Observation window	The weeks between the earliest and latest review.

Change by driver compares the average baseline level with the average latest level for each section, counting only pupils whose reviews can be compared.

Open Data coverage to see how many scores the figures are based on, how many pupils on roll have no reviews yet, and how many have a complete or partial baseline. Pupils who have left are counted separately. Open Progress scale to read what each level means.

Observed change while supported does not show what caused the change. A pupil may have moved for many reasons, inside and outside your provision. Use the figures to start a conversation with your team and the commissioning school, not as proof that a particular piece of work made the difference.

Notes

• Who can do what: by default, provision leaders set the framework. Staff with progress rights record reviews. If you don’t see Set progress framework or Record review, your role can’t do that.
• Qualifications: if your role can see it, Curriculum and qualifications at the bottom of the page lists your provision’s qualification catalogue.
• Daily scores: for short scores after each session, use Set up and record daily check-ins.
• Your provision’s words: the page uses your provision’s word for a pupil, such as learner.

If something doesn’t work

What you see	What to do
Progress evidence “could not be loaded. Scores and totals are unavailable.”	Click Retry. Until it loads, the figures on the page aren’t complete.
“You do not have permission to view provision progress.”	Your role can’t open Progress Drivers. Ask a provision leader.
“The save could not be confirmed. Your entries have been kept.”	Click Save review again, or click Load saved values to see what was saved.
“The saved review is incomplete or uses different framework revisions. Reload its saved values before continuing.”	Click Load saved values, check them, then make your changes.
“Complete every progress section using the current scale.”	Choose a level for every section, then save again.
“Different framework revisions are present. Change is not calculated across them.”	Reviews were recorded with frameworks that weren’t marked comparable, so no change figure is shown for them.
“No pupils match these filters.”	Clear the search box or choose All pupils.