Aspire Pupil Tracking – case study

Meridian Trust

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Why did Meridian Trust choose Aspire Pupil Tracking

Meridian Trust is a multi-academy trust of 39 schools, spanning All-Through, Primary, Secondary and Special settings — all of which use FFT Aspire in some form. The trust has used FFT since Aspire launched, having relied on FFT dashboards before that.

Meridian chose Aspire Pupil Tracking to benchmark its internal progress, attainment and prediction quality against a significant national sample, with the aim of identifying key areas for improvement and promising practice across the trust.

Pupils on roll

000

Age group

0-0

FSM eligible

0%

SEND/Support

0%

EAL

0%
“Aspire Pupil Tracking has given us a clear overview of progress against nationally benchmarked data, offering a much more nuanced understanding of subject level performance than purely looking at attainment.”
– Andy Daly, Executive Principal

How does Meridian Trust use Aspire Pupil Tracking

The trust uses FFT Aspire reports to identify pupils and groups of pupils who are falling behind estimates and national benchmarks. This enables the trust to quickly assign interventions and direct cross-trust support to where it is needed most. 

Setting and tracking targets

Tracking against estimates has given the trust a strong, consistent view of progress for current Year 11 pupils, an area where trusts often struggle to get early clarity. The trust plans to move to setting targets directly within Aspire once bulk upload is available, building on the tracking approach already in place.

Training and support

Training and support is an ongoing, iterative process. The trust systematically drives use of FFT among senior and middle leaders through self-evaluation tools, used regularly by staff and supported by short, digestible videos. Training then cascades through school leaders and curriculum teams across the trust's networks.

Additional support and resources from FFT

Staff across the trust regularly attend FFT updates — briefings on national results, assessment and policy. They also draw on FFT Education Datalab, FFT's independent research team, to understand emerging trends and benchmark trust-level data against them, supporting school improvement across the trust.
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The impact of pupil progress tracking at Meridian Trust

Meridian's use of Aspire is still growing as the platform's functionality expands, and the impact is already significant. Staff now review progress and attainment against a national picture at subject level, and can genuinely test whether progress and prediction accuracy are as strong as they could be. That makes it far easier to target support precisely — for subject teams and individual pupils alike.

The simple, accessible format of Aspire Pupil Tracking means staff can evaluate the progress of groups and individuals more readily. Benchmarking against national data lets them intervene in a more targeted way, from trust level right down to individual school departments.

Why would Meridian Trust recommend Aspire Pupil Tracking

Improved visibility of progress where this is currently lacking from DfE data 
National benchmarks to more fairly and effectively evaluate progress 
Simple and easy-to-use dashboards 
Supports data-informed decisions across the trust

Learn more about Aspire Pupil Tracking

Aspire Pupil Tracking