Assessment of pupils

This page provides a brief overview of a range of assessment issues.

Assessment for Learning (AfL)
The Assessment Reform Group has defined AfL as the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and their teachers to decide what stage learners have reached in their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there. The AfL strategy was launched on 20 May 2008 and it can be downloaded here.

The AfL strategy is designed to support schools in using assessment information to improve and plan provision, as well as improving the quality of the assessment process itself. Aimed primarily at teachers and school leaders, it sets out aims and objectives for each year, describing how the strategy will be delivered and giving details of the resources available to schools. The AfL strategy, underpinned by £150 million of Government funding over the next three years, has been jointly developed by the DCSF, the National Strategies and QCA, together with the Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors.

AfL practices such as target-setting, pupil self-assessment and peer assessment have been adopted by three quarter of schools already. It is also one of the aspects which can make the most difference to children's achievement when planned effectively. The aim of the AfL strategy is to make use of tracking and AfL tools and techniques truly universal across all schools.

The QCA website provides practical guidance and case studies for teachers on how to use day-to-day assessment effectively to improve teaching and learning. To assist management, schools are entitled to a range of school-level benchmark data, value-added analysis and estimates of likely future achievements.

National benchmark

How well are we doing as a school?
How well could we be doing?

The national benchmark information enables you to answer these questions. You can make comparisons with schools with similar levels of social deprivation (measured by free school meals eligibility) or with similar levels of prior attainment or value-added (measured by the performance at the end of the previous key stage). Under the LA Data Framework, schools can also expect to receive benchmark information about the other schools in their local authority.

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