Assessment results

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Last updated: 15 July 2007

The National Assessment Agency (NAA), a subsidiary of QCA, manages the collection of data on behalf of the DCSF. NAA collects data from the Key Stage 2 and 3 National Curriculum test and teacher assessment results. The information is used for the publication of national and local authority level results, the school achievement and attainment tables and school improvement information, such as target setting and value added measures, which is published in RAISEonline (a new system to replace Ofsted's PANDA and the DCSF's Pupil Achievement Tracker). It is also passed to schools to enable them to inform parents of the results.

The main data collection responsibilities for head teachers are as follows:

to submit the pupil details (if the school does not submit an annual pupil census data electronically) and test orders of all the pupils eligible for the Key Stage 2 and 3 tests to the NAA by the specified date in November 2006
to verify that their pupil details and test orders are correct
to complete the Key Stage 2 and 3 mark sheets, indicating which pupils completed the test and which were absent, unable to access the tests or working below the required level
to submit to their local authority, by a specified date, the Key Stage 1 teacher assessment levels for speaking and listening, reading and writing, mathematics and science, for onward transmission to the DCSF
to submit teacher assessment levels for each pupil in the core subjects at Key Stage 2 and 3 and non-core subjects at Key Stage 3, to NAA by 11 July 2006.

Key Stage 1 data collection
The Key Stage 1 tasks and tests are administered and marked by teachers at the school. The teacher then makes an overall assessment taking into account the results from the tasks and tests. The governing bodies of all LA maintained primary and special schools, with eligible children on the roll, are required to submit their teacher assessment results to their maintaining authority. It is the responsibility of the local authority to ensure that the results sent to them by schools are complete and accurate. The local authority will then submit their national data returns to the DCSF. NAA is not involved in the collection of this data.

Key Stage 2 and 3 data collection
The Key Stage 2 and 3 tests are administered by the school. The school then sends off the test papers and mark sheets to an external marker, who marks the test scripts. When completed, the marker sends the scripts back to the school and sends a copy of the mark sheet to NAA. The school has to send directly to NAA their teacher assessment results for all eligible pupils. The NAA then passes the test and teacher assessment results directly to DCSF.

Publication and use of assessment results

The Key Stage test and teacher-assessment results are used for the following purposes:

the publication of a statistical first release, containing headline results and analyses of the national summary results by local authority around late August 2006;
the RAISEonline system which informs school inspections and supports school self evaluation. It contains a range of reports on attainment and progress, comparing the school to performance of schools and groups of pupils nationally. It also allows question level analysis of performance in the key stage tests;
the School Achievement and Attainment tables published by the DCSF, with Key Stage 2 tables published at the end of the year and the Key Stage 3 tables published at the beginning of the year.

Published data
Published data is placed on the DCSF website and can be accessed and downloaded by anyone who requires access. This includes the national summary results and the school level results published in the Key Stage 2 or Key Stage 3 Achievement and Attainment tables.

Main text
Legislation
Further information