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Glossary
This glossary defines the terms used in Sisra Analytics, Juniper Education’s analysis tool for secondary schools, and in secondary school data in England. Each linked term goes to the page that explains it, and words in bold are labels as they appear on screen. Pupils are in years 7 to 11 (KS3/4) and students in years 12 and 13 (KS5).
A to B
Section titled “A to B”A KS5 measure: the share of students with at least AAB in three A levels, at least two of them in facilitating subjects. Sisra also shows a version that needs all three in facilitating subjects.
A KS5 performance cohort: A levels, AS levels and other academic qualifications, such as the Extended Project.
The authority group action that opens DATA and CONFIG, and the administrator tools on the reports home. The Admin group has it.
A record, under USERS > GDPR, of each time Juniper staff signed in to your school’s Sisra, and why.
Roles in Juniper Portal, not in Sisra. Only these roles can change a member of staff’s role or remove their access.
Marks a pupil’s Progress 8 score that has been raised to the minimum in the estimate set, as the DfE does to limit very negative scores.
The two locked authority groups. Admin can do everything. User can open every report except Locked reports and results under embargo.
The list, under USERS, of changes made in Sisra, newest first, such as imports, uploads, edits and publishes.
The name the reports show for a value in your files. Several values can share one alias: in the demo school, T and Y both show as Disadvantaged.
A KS5 performance cohort of approved applied general qualifications, such as the demo school’s BTEC Science.
A Sisra Multi-School option that weights each school’s KS4 figures by its pupils and its years in the trust, as the DfE does for trust measures.
A set of grades from one round of collection, what many schools call a data drop. You can create as many as you need and publish two for each term.
The total of a pupil’s points in eight qualifications, with English and maths counted twice, in ten slots. The DfE publishes it as a school average.
The average Attainment 8 for pupils with each KS2 starting point, which Progress 8 measures against. You choose a set, such as the DfE’s 2024, when you publish.
Your school’s own judgements, such as Attitude or Behaviour, collected with the grades. Each judgement belongs to a grade in a qualification.
A set of permissions, called group actions, that decides which areas, reports and report levels someone can open. Each person’s role in Juniper Portal puts them in one group.
An average of points shown as a grade, such as C+ for 32.90 points per entry at KS5. It is blank where a row mixes grade methods.
An average of points. At KS5, each student’s KS4 average point score is their prior attainment for value added.
Total points divided by total entries, the DfE’s KS5 attainment measure. An A level is 1 entry, an AS level half an entry.
An exam result from an earlier series, such as an early entry in year 10. It goes into Exams with its date, because the first entry counts.
A qualification’s discount code on the Matching page, usually the DfE’s. Qualifications with the same code count once between them in the headline measures.
A starting point, such as KS2 scores or a target. An Expected Attainment Pathway (EAP) uses it to place each pupil or student on a pathway. At KS5, the core baselines are KS4 results.
The page where you set up uploaded baselines and see baseline warnings. At KS3/4, you also nominate the KS2 core subjects there.
Sisra’s name for the English and maths measures: grade 4, 5 or 7 or above in both English and maths.
In Sisra Multi-School, the average of the schools in a year’s Sisra Data Collaboration. It is not a DfE national figure.
A KS5 measure: the average points of each student’s three best A levels, shown as points and as a grade.
Splits each figure in a report by the values of one filter, such as Disadvantaged and Non Disadvantaged, beneath the figure for everyone.
Spreadsheets of a published report’s grades, with pupils or students down the side and qualifications across.
C to D
Section titled “C to D”The DfE’s points for the KS5 English and maths progress measures. A GCSE grade’s challenge points equal the grade, so a 3 is worth 3.
A report status. The data “has been finalised and verified”, and everyone who can see reports can open it.
The DfE’s periods for schools to check the pupils and results in their performance data. In 2026 there was a KS4 exercise in June, and KS4 and 16 to 19 exercises in October.
A test many schools give in year 7. Some schools converted CAT results into KS2-style scores for cohorts that took no KS2 tests.
A year group, named by the academic year in which it finishes year 11 or year 13. The 26/27 cohort is this year’s year 11 at KS3/4.
Sets a second published data set beside the one you are viewing, such as targets beside predictions. At KS5 it is COMPARE WITH.
The range either side of a Progress 8 or value added score. If the limits span 0, the score is not significantly different from the national average.
The top menu item for school-wide settings, such as grade methods, data set names, filters and report settings.
Scores some schools made from another test, such as CAT, for the 24/25 and 25/26 cohorts, who took no KS2 tests. Any Progress 8 built on them is the school’s own figure.
At KS5, each student’s KS4 results: KS4 APS GCSE (A8 Pts), KS4 APS All (A8 Pts), Prior English (Challenge Points) and Prior Maths (Challenge Points). At KS3/4, the KS2 subjects nominated as Core: English reading and maths.
Attainment 8 estimates your school makes itself, by hand or from a copy of another set. They have no minimum scores.
The top menu item where administrators import, upload, check and publish each cohort’s data.
In Sisra Multi-School, every school’s latest publish for one cohort, term and grade type, shown together in the trust’s reports.
A place for one full set of grades, such as exam results or targets. Each cohort has seven, including Exams. Sisra calls a published data set or collection a report.
Shows how a KS3/4 report was published: its Data Collaboration event, DfE rules year, estimates and grade type. At KS5 it is Data Set Information.
A column on the KS3/4 Matching page that compares your grade method with the official grades, points and entries for the qualification number (QN).
A focus group whose members are highlighted in a KS3/4 cohort’s reports. KS5 has no default group.
DfE Rules from: in the publish dialog: the year of DfE rules that decides first entries and discounting in the headline measures.
The DfE’s group of pupils eligible for free school meals at any time in the last six years, looked-after children and children adopted from care. It is one of Sisra’s key filters.
The DfE’s rules that give credit for each course once, so that overlapping qualifications count only once in the headline measures.
E to F
Section titled “E to F”The baseline an Expected Attainment Pathway uses to place each pupil or student, such as their KS2 average or their target.
Different expected grades for one pupil or student from others with the same baseline. Use exceptions for a few people only.
GCSEs in English, maths, science, a language and history or geography. The DfE announced on 4 November 2025 that it is leaving the headline accountability measures.
Sisra’s value added for the science, humanities and languages slots, against VA Estimates: chosen when you publish.
The window around each results day when Exams reports published in it open only for groups with View Embargo Reports. Juniper sets the windows each year.
KS5 measures of how much students without grade 4 in GCSE English or maths improved, in challenge points. Scores below −1 count as −1.
How many qualifications of a standard size a grade counts as: GCSE sizes at KS3/4, A level sizes at KS5. Each grade method sets the entries for each grade.
The data set for official exam results only. It cannot hold sub-grades, and it is the only data set Sisra Data Collaboration collects from.
Sets a qualification’s grade method for each term and, if you fill it in, the grade expected of each pupil or student each term from their baseline.
The grade an EAP expects for a pupil or student in a term. Reports show it as EAP Grade, unless your school has renamed it.
The A level subjects in the DfE’s AAB measure: biology, chemistry, physics, maths, further maths, geography, history, English literature, and classical and modern languages.
A group of qualifications, such as science, that the reports can show together at the Faculties level.
The checks Sisra runs on a file as you upload or import it, before anything is saved.
A characteristic from your student data, such as SEN or Gender, that the reports can narrow, split or count by.
A report level with one row for each value of each filter, for filters with 15 values or fewer.
The DfE rule that a pupil’s earliest result in a qualification counts in the headline measures, even if a later resit is higher.
Sisra’s own measures of five standard or strong passes including English and maths. The DfE no longer publishes them.
A chart of a pupil’s grades in one qualification against the pathway their EAP sets, in the Student Detail report.
A list of pupils or students chosen by hand, such as an intervention group, that staff can filter by in the reports.
A filter of pupils eligible for free school meals at any time in the last six years. It is close to the DfE’s disadvantaged group, but leaves out looked-after and adopted children.
G to J
Section titled “G to J”A row added by Breakdown for a filter with two values: the first group’s figure minus the second’s.
The DfE service where schools find pupils’ KS2 scores and, for sixth form students, their KS4 results.
A qualification’s grades, with the points and entries for each, such as 9 to 1 with sub-grades. Each EAP sets which grade method a qualification uses in each term.
A warning that a grade is not in the qualification’s grade method, such as a combined science grade with a dash.
What kind of grades a data set or collection holds, such as Attainment, Predicted or Targets (End of Key Stage). Sisra Multi-School needs it.
The area in DATA where administrators check, edit, move and delete uploaded grades and clear warnings.
A status for a pupil or student who should not count in the headline figures but whose grades you want to see. An example is someone who joined after the spring census.
The headline measures, worked out under the DfE’s rules, and the area of the reports that shows them. A data set needs Headlines on when it is published.
The checks Sisra runs when you publish grades. Some failures stop publishing, such as grades for pupils or students with no student data.
A KS5 report status meaning some results are missing. Only the built-in Admin group is offered it.
The body for the exam boards that sets results days and the rules on who may see results before pupils and students do.
The two roles in Sisra Multi-School. Juniper Admins manage users, data collections and school joining dates.
Juniper’s account service. You sign in through it, and your school gives, changes and removes access to Sisra there.
K to L
Section titled “K to L”The number and percentage of pupils or students in a report with each filter value. It opens from the key icon at KS3/4 and a button at KS5.
Disadvantaged, Gender and SEN, mapped to the DfE’s definitions. Data Collaboration, trends and trust reports need them.
The average of a pupil’s KS2 English reading and maths scaled scores, which sets their Attainment 8 estimate and KS2 Banding.
KS2 test results, from 80 to 120. The tests were cancelled in 2020 and 2021, so the 24/25 and 25/26 cohorts have none.
Sisra’s two key stage areas: years 7 to 11, and years 12 and 13. KS5 follows the DfE’s 16 to 19 measures, called 16 to 18 before 1 September 2026.
A student’s KS4 average point score from GCSEs only, and from all qualifications. Value added uses the first for academic qualifications and the second for applied general and tech level.
Sisra’s own KS5 cohort of all approved level 3 qualifications. The DfE does not report it.
A cohort that has left, such as 25/26 (Leavers). Older leavers are in the Leavers menu on the reports home.
A status for someone who has left. They are left out of every report and listed under Inactive Students.
The DfE’s KS5 progress measure. It compares each grade with the results of students nationally with similar KS4 results.
A report status. Only authority groups with View Locked Reports can open the report, which by default means Admin.
M to O
Section titled “M to O”On the Dataset tab, the data set or collection you are viewing in a KS3/4 report.
The page where you link each qualification to its EAP and QN, and include or exclude it.
A warning that grades belong to a Student ID that is not in the cohort’s student data. At both key stages it stops any data set publishing.
Up to five links on the KS5 reports home, saved for you, that open a class’s Grade List.
A pupil or student with a grade in a qualification but no class in its sets of classes.
The status for pupils and students on the school’s roll. At KS3/4, headline figures count only On Roll pupils.
Whether a grade is equal to, higher than or lower than the expected grade for the term.
The last three Attainment 8 slots, filled by the best remaining approved qualifications, including non-GCSEs.
P to R
Section titled “P to R”One row of an EAP: the expected grades, term by term, for one baseline value.
The DfE’s KS5 groups of qualifications, such as A Level, Academic, Applied General, Tech Level and Tech Cert.
Remembers a KS3/4 report with its options, so that Return to Pin brings you back to it.
An earlier qualification, such as KS3 science, whose grades fill the KS3 years in a KS4 qualification’s flight paths and tracker.
The grade teachers expect a pupil or student to get at the end of the course.
A pupil’s Attainment 8 minus their estimate, divided by 10. The DfE publishes none for 2025 and 2026 leavers, who took no KS2 tests.
Turns uploaded data into reports. Nothing reaches the reports until you publish it, in the order student data, baselines and EAPs, then grades.
Extra funding for disadvantaged pupils and service children. A pupil premium filter is not the DfE’s disadvantaged group, because it includes service children.
The DfE’s code for an approved qualification. It tells Sisra how the qualification counts in the headline measures.
Reports that set each year’s exam results side by side, for one qualification or for the headline measures.
The DfE’s tool for checking KS5 value added, which shows it in points. Sisra’s Ready Reckoner export sets out a report’s grades in its layout.
Reopens a grade method’s set-up steps with its current settings, so that you can change it.
Unchecked, Checked, Locked, and Incomplete at KS5: set when publishing, and changeable without republishing.
A pupil’s or student’s points per entry in one qualification minus their average points per entry across all their qualifications. Residuals compare subjects within your school.
Leaves chosen qualifications out of the averages that residuals use. At KS5 it is Residual Exclusions.
The day pupils and students get their exam results. Schools receive results the day before, under the embargo.
The DfE’s KS5 measure of students retained to the end of their main programme. Sisra does not calculate it.
The school census codes for special educational needs: E for an education, health and care (EHC) plan, K for SEN support and N for none.
A group of classes from the Subject column of your student data, which you assign to qualifications.
The DfE’s comparison, since September 2026, of a school’s Attainment 8 with that of about 50 similar schools. It is not in Sisra.
Projects each pupil’s grades to the end of KS4 from your EAPs, and works the figures out again. To see them, choose P in the Main Focus list on a report’s Dataset tab.
Anonymised exam results from schools that use Sisra and opt in. Its figures are an early comparison, not national figures. In 2026, the first figures were available at 3:45pm on GCSE results day.
Juniper’s product for trusts, built from each school’s published Sisra Analytics data.
One of the ten places in Attainment 8: two each for English and maths, three EBacc and three open.
A Matching page column giving a qualification’s role in Attainment 8 and the EBacc, such as English Lang.
The school census in January. The DfE uses it to identify 16 to 19 students, so keep KS5 statuses in line with it.
One of the seven data sets in each cohort, such as Exams or Targets, each holding one full set of grades.
Grade 4 or above, and grade 5 or above, at GCSE, as a 2017 letter from the Secretary of State named them. The DfE’s headline English and maths measure is grade 5 or above.
The file of pupils or students, with their classes and filters, that you import for each cohort.
The list of columns Sisra expects in every student data file, including your school’s filters.
The KS3/4 reports about one pupil: their filters, grades, expected grades, flight paths and headline measures. At KS5, a panel opens from a student’s name.
The number that links a pupil’s or student’s records in every file for their cohort, such as their exam number or admission number.
The +, = or - after a grade, such as 5+. Sub and Whole decide whether sub-grades count when grades are compared.
Compares a pupil’s grade in one subject with the average of Sisra Data Collaboration pupils who took it and had the same KS2 score. It is Sisra’s own measure, not the DfE’s.
T to Y
Section titled “T to Y”A short coloured label under a name in the reports, such as Disad, that marks a filter value.
The data set for centre-assessed grades from 2020 and teacher-assessed grades from 2021. Its name cannot be changed.
The grade a school aims for a pupil or student to reach. Targets usually go in a standalone data set, and can be EAP baselines.
A KS5 performance cohort of approved level 2 technical certificates. Sisra calculates no value added for it.
A KS5 performance cohort of approved level 3 tech level qualifications.
The term a data set or collection belongs to, such as Year 11 Term 1. It decides the expected grades and grade methods the grades are read against.
A technical qualification in three parts: a core, an occupational specialism and an industry placement. Neither Sisra nor the DfE calculates value added for it.
A KS3/4 report that sets up to six of a cohort’s data sets or collections side by side.
The emailed code you enter, after your password, each time you sign in.
A qualification that is not on the DfE’s list for the performance measures. It appears in qualification and class reports, but not in headline figures.
A report status. The data “may be subject to change”, and everyone who can see reports can open it.
The DfE’s number for each pupil. Juniper advises against using it as your Student ID, because it is sensitive.
An import option. With Yes, Sisra treats the file as the whole cohort, so at KS3/4 anyone missing from it becomes Left School.
A KS5 button that limits a report to the students who count in its measure, so its summary matches Headlines.
How a grade compares with the results of similar students nationally. At KS5, Sisra shows it in grades: +1.00 is one grade above expectation in an A level.
The authority group action that opens Exams reports published during the results embargo. By default only Admin has it.
The authority group action that opens Locked reports. By default only Admin has it.
The report level for everyone in the report, which opens the Headlines Summary at KS3/4.
The service that copies staff records from any MIS other than Juniper MIS to Juniper Portal, for signing in.
The standard a pupil or student is working at now, in the work covered so far. Its grade type is Attainment.
Year 12 Only, Year 13 Only and other KS5 statuses
Section titled “Year 12 Only, Year 13 Only and other KS5 statuses”KS5 statuses that decide who counts in the headline figures, including Year 12 Addback, On Roll Aged 18 and Year 13 Only Aged 18.