Olwyn McCollin
Experienced senior school leader and mathematics specialist with extensive experience of assessment and school performance data.
My career has included senior leadership, head of department responsibility, KS3 intervention and attainment, high prior attainers, assessment, curriculum, reporting and staff development. A recurring part of that work has been making sense of school data — not simply presenting averages, but asking what sits behind them and what leaders should do next.
Reality Behind the Data was created around a simple idea: schools do not need more numbers. They need clear interpretation, sensible challenge and practical next steps.
Experience that informs the analysis
The analysis is grounded in experience of using data to make real decisions in schools — about pupils, curriculum, intervention and improvement.
Senior and subject leadership
Experience of the questions senior leaders, middle leaders and governors need answered, and the pressures within which those decisions are made.
Attainment and intervention
Practical experience of KS3 attainment, intervention, high prior attainers and identifying the pupils and subjects sitting behind headline outcomes.
Assessment and pupil groups
Experience interrogating attainment and assessment data, including PP, SEND and HPA patterns, gaps and priorities.
From evidence to action
A focus on turning findings into concise leadership narratives, realistic priorities and actions that can be monitored and reviewed.
Data should start a conversation, not end one.
A percentage, average or gap is never the whole story. Good analysis should lead us back to pupils, curriculum and classroom practice.
I know how valuable time is in schools. Throughout my career, I have seen how much time can be spent bringing together assessment data, checking pupil groups, identifying gaps and turning spreadsheets into something useful for leaders. The challenge is not simply producing the data; it is finding the time to interrogate it properly and decide what should happen next.
Reality Behind the Data grew partly from that experience. My aim is to take some of that analytical burden away from teachers and leaders, providing a clear, independent view of what the data is showing, what may be sitting behind the headline figures and where attention may be most useful.
Data should support professional judgement, not replace it. The purpose of analysis is not to create another report: it is to help schools ask better questions, identify priorities and make better-informed decisions without creating more work.
How I work with schools
Start with the question
We agree what you need to understand before analysis begins, so the work stays focused and useful.
Look behind the headline
I examine the patterns, pupil groups and subjects driving the overall picture rather than relying on averages alone.
Make it usable
You receive clear findings, leadership questions and practical next steps in a form designed to support discussion and decision-making.
Need a clearer picture of what your data is telling you?
Send an enquiry and we can agree the question, scope and most appropriate level of analysis.
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