The Royal Grammar School Newcastle is an academically selective, co-educational day school for pupils aged 7-18. The school’s mission is to inspire and equip pupils to make a positive contribution to society, promote excellence, and raise aspiration and attainment across the North East.

The school strives to instill a love of learning, a belief in one another, a strong sense of belonging and an ambition to succeed.

RGS Newcastle chose to being working with Alps in KS5 in 2022 to gain deeper insight into their whole school value-added performance, adding KS4 in 2023. They also wanted a clearer picture of how specific pupil groups and departments were performing, and how they could ensure that all students are stretched to reach their full potential.

The ability to benchmark against national data and the wider client cohort has been particularly helpful for contextualising outcomes and celebrating the hard work of staff and students alike. Recognition through awards – such as being in the Top 1% of Alps customers for GCSE and Top 10% for A level for value-added progress – has further reinforced this.

This case study details the school’s journey in validating excellence through comparative data, using the Alps platform to successfully measure and inform value-added success.