The Datum Report

Standing view · skills · Isles of Scilly

Skills and attainment in the Isles of Scilly have been improving.

improving, held with established confidence, formed on 31 August 2026 from movements in 2024/2025.

The share of Isles of Scilly pupils reaching grade 4 or above in GCSE English and maths rose to 88.2% in 2023/24, and entry to both subjects to 94.1%. Attainment at grade 5 or above fell to 45.5% in 2024/25. The islands have one secondary cohort of a few dozen pupils, so a single year's attainment share moves by several percentage points when one or two pupils do; the two thresholds pointing opposite ways is consistent with that rather than with a change in attainment.

How this was decided

A view is formed only where the evidence names a figure you can check. Each movement listed as a reason had to be large enough to matter and distinctive in at least one way — unusual against this area's own history, unusual against comparable areas, or sustained over several periods. A movement shared with peers counts for less, because it says something about the country rather than about Isles of Scilly. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.

The 3 measures that formed this view

MeasurePeriodDirection
GCSE grade 4+ in English and maths2023/2024improving
Pupils entering English and maths GCSEs2023/2024improving
GCSE grade 5+ in English and maths2024/2025deteriorating