Context
Aston Academy is a secondary converter academy in Sheffield, UK, within the jurisdiction of Rotherham Local Education Authority. As of October 2017 there are 1745 students on roll, including 232 in Post 16, of which 22% are disadvantaged. The Academy was rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted in its recent inspection (February 2014). In 2016, the Academy achieved a GCSE Progress 8 score of +0.04, and a 5 A*-C pass rate, including English and Mathematics, of 68.2 %. In 2017, students sat AS examinations in the majority of subjects, with a smaller number of subjects choosing not to enter students for AS examinations. The vast majority of Post 16 students follow a pathway of three A Level subjects, or equivalents, with only a small number of students typically studying four subjects. Aston Academy is located in an area with a POLAR3 score of 3, with many of the surrounding areas falling into the second quintile, indicating a slightly lower than average progression into HE.