Regulation of national curriculum and EYFS assessments

Roles and responsibilities in relation to national curriculum Assessments

22.1There are a number of bodies who have a role in national curriculum and EYFS assessments. These are set out below.

22.2Local authorities have a statutory duty to monitor the administration of national curriculum assessments in their schools in line with the statutory requirements, and moderate teacher assessments at key stage 1.

22.3Head teachers and governing bodies are responsible for ensuring that the statutory national curriculum assessments are administered to all eligible pupils. Head teachers are responsible for ensuring that the tests are administered according to the published statutory assessment arrangements.

22.4QCDA will be responsible, under a remit given to it by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, for producing national curriculum assessments and for setting in place procedures to ensure that the standards defined by QCDA are maintained in each core subject assessment, across key stages and from year to year. QCDA is also required to ensure that schools receive timely information and materials to administer the national curriculum assessments.

22.5Department for Children, Schools and Families sets arrangements for assessment and testing. It also receives data from QCDA on how the national cohort of pupils has performed in the national curriculum assessments at the end of each key stage, and uses this for the publication of Achievement and Attainment tables.

22.6Ofsted uses the aggregated attainment and progress data which is generated by end of key stage tests and teacher assessment as a key evidence base for its inspection judgements.

Roles and responsibilities in relation to the EYFS

22.7Local authorities are responsible for ensuring their schools and private, voluntary and independent settings (PVI settings) administer the statutory framework and reporting arrangements appropriately. They must ensure their schools and PVI settings understand and follow the requirements. Local authorities have a statutory responsibility for moderating EYFS profile judgements to secure consistent standards in the assessment.

22.8Head teachers and heads of EYFS settings must make sure that their schools comply with all aspects of the EYFS. All foundation schools and PVI settings must provide parents/guardians with a written summary of a child’s progress against the early learning goals and assessment scales.

22.9Practitioners have the responsibility of ensuring the consistency and accuracy of their EYFS profile assessments through:

• participating in internal moderation with practitioners in their own school/setting
• attendance at implementation and moderation training where appropriate
• attendance at moderation events at least annually.

22.10QCDA is responsible for monitoring the local authorities’ moderation process and providing local authorities with guidance and examples of good practice.

22.11Ofsted inspects the quality of the delivery of the EYFS and how well providers are meeting the welfare, learning and development requirements. Ofsted also checks that arrangements are in hand for completion of the EYFS profile for children in the final year of EYFS.

22.12The Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) is responsible for defining qualifications and training requirements acceptable for registration as an early years practitioner and for regulatory purposes.

22.13The Department for Children, Schools and Families is responsible for determining the nature and extent of the assessment arrangements and collects EYFS profile achievement. These data are used to gain an overview of improvements in young children’s achievements to meet national targets and how children are performing against the early learning goals.

Promoting the development and implementation of regulated assessment arrangements which maintain standards

22.14The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families is responsible for specifying in statutory regulations the arrangements for pupil assessments in relation to each of the key stages of the national curriculum, and the arrangements required for assessing the achievements of children in relation to the learning and development requirements of the EYFS.

22.15We are required to keep under review all aspects of the national curriculum and EYFS assessment arrangements that have been specified by the Secretary of State in statutory orders.²

22.16We have a statutory objective to promote the development and implementation of assessment arrangements which give a reliable indication of achievement, and indicate a consistent level of attainment (including over time) between comparable assessments. We will achieve this by adopting a regulatory approach in line with the principles of good regulation.

22.17We will work closely with stakeholders who share our agenda to ensure the development and implementation of high quality assessments. We will share and promote the good practice that we identify.

The changing assessment landscape

22.18The regulation of assessment arrangements has previously focused on the end of key stage statutory national curriculum tests. However, with the ending of all national tests at key stage 3 and science tests at key stage 2, coupled with the move towards facilitating reliable formative and summative teacher assessments, the assessment landscape has changed markedly in recent years.

22.19Although the Secretary of State is responsible for specifying the assessment arrangements, reflecting his/her policy objectives, he/she must now consult Ofqual before making any changes to them. When responding to such consultation requests, we will evaluate the proposed changes in terms of whether they are likely to allow for assessments which are valid, reliable, comparable, manageable and minimise bias. Our responses will be evidence-based, informed by our monitoring and stakeholder engagement activities.

Expert Group on Assessment

22.20We have a duty to have regard to the specified purposes of regulated assessment arrangements when we review the arrangements. Formally, there is only one purpose for national curriculum assessment, which is to ascertain what pupils have achieved in relation to attainment targets for the relevant key stage. Under the Act, the Secretary of State may specify additional purposes. However, we note that the Secretary of State’s Expert Group on Assessment report http://publications.dcsf.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/Expert-Group-Report.pdf, published in May 2009, identified the purposes of national curriculum assessments as being:

• to optimise the effectiveness of pupils’ learning and teachers’ teaching
• to hold individual schools accountable for their performance
• to provide parents with information about the child’s progress
• to provide reliable information about national standards over time.

20.21The focus of the Expert Group’s recommendations is on bringing about reliable and consistent assessments which support learning and can command public confidence. To achieve this objective, a wide range of summative and formative assessment is proposed. We will need to consider carefully, given resources available to us, which aspects of statutory assessment we should focus on.

Assessment regulatory frameworks

22.22The Act requires us to develop and publish regulatory frameworks for national curriculum and EYFS assessments which:

• describe how Ofqual intends to keep under review all aspects of national curriculum and EYFS assessment arrangements and
• provide guidance to those bodies that have responsibility for the development, implementation and monitoring of national curriculum and EYFS on how to perform their functions; those bodies are required to have regard to the frameworks.

22.23To meet our assessments standards objective, our approach needs to secure that:

• assessment approaches used are valid, reliable and manageable
• assessments are designed and delivered in a way that is capable of delivering the statutory purposes of assessments
• the content of assessments (knowledge, skills and understanding) accurately reflect the subject criteria which are set for each statutory assessment by Ofqual and agreed with QCDA
• surveys indicate that teachers, parents, pupils, local authorities and other stakeholders have confidence in the outcomes of national curriculum and EYFS assessments
• there is comparability in the assessment outcomes between institutions and year-on-year
• no pupil working at the level of the assessment is disadvantaged or excluded because of their social background, culture, race, gender, ability or disability.

Criteria for national curriculum and EYFS assessments

22.24To ensure our approach is consistent and transparent, we will apply the following criteria when reviewing the development, delivery, marking and reporting of externally assessed tests, internally assessed tasks, and the moderation of teacher assessment and EYFS profile judgements where these are statutory all aspects of national curriculum and EYFS assessment arrangements:

•  Validity –  the assessments must generate results that provide a valid measure of pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding as defined by the national curriculum and subject criteria.
• Reliability – the assessments must generate results that provide a reliable measure of pupils’ performance.
• Comparability – the assessments must generate results that provide comparability of standards.
• Manageability – the assessment system must be manageable.
• Minimise bias – the assessments must generate outcomes that minimise bias differentiating on the basis of pupils’ ability to meet the requirements.

A fuller explanation of the criteria is included in Annexe B of this document.

Subject criteria

22.25Ofqual will review the subject criteria for each statutory assessment, including:

We will expect assessments to meet both the common and subject criteria.

• the structure of the assessment
• how achievement will be recognised within the assessment
• curriculum coverage and balance across the programme of study
• question or task types and contexts
• permitted equipment and information.

We will expect assessments to meet both the common and subject criteria.

Keeping national curriculum and EYFS assessment arrangements under review

22.26We will adopt an approach to keeping assessment arrangements under review whereby we consider:

• the development and implementation of assessment arrangements against our criteria of validity, reliability, comparability, manageability and minimising bias
• the objectives of the assessment arrangement
• the role that parents, practitioners, teaching assistants and other bodies play in the conduct and quality assurance of the assessment arrangements
• how the outcomes of the assessments are used
• how the sharing of good practice which encourages high quality assessment can be promoted
• how regulation can add value and avoid regulatory burden.

Monitoring

22.27We will undertake specific monitoring activities based on those areas where our risk assessment indicates there is most concern. The risk assessment would be used to determine the nature, scope and frequency of our review activities and will be informed by consideration of the following factors:

• changes to how the assessment arrangements are conducted
• changes to the processes and systems in relation to the assessment arrangement
• the issue of new national guidance and support material, which is designed to ensure assessments are reliable and consistent
• analysis of assessment outcomes data and how data is used
• outcomes of self assessment exercises undertaken by responsible bodies and our previous monitoring
• complaints we have received concerning the assessment arrangements and feedback from Ofsted and other relevant bodies
• the need to ensure our monitoring activities are appropriately targeted and add value
• feedback from parents and practitioners.

Monitoring activities

22.28Informed by our risk assessment we would undertake one or more of the following monitoring activities:

 Systems audit

• reviewing the fitness for purpose of the systems and processes that are intended to ensure the implementation of assessment arrangements which are valid, reliable, comparable, manageable and minimise bias.

 Guidance and training materials

• evaluating the quality of national guidance and training materials intended to help practitioners and teachers make reliable and consistent assessments
• reviewing materials against our common criteria
• providing feedback to responsible bodies.

Moderation

• evaluating the effectiveness of arrangements for monitoring local authority assessment moderation arrangements
• observing the local authority moderation process in a sample of areas in order to validate the effectiveness of the moderation model
• evaluating the effectiveness of the delivery of moderation training to practitioners, for example, review of the training in a variety of EYFS settings including private, voluntary, independent and school-based settings
• consulting on improvements to existing processes.

Assessment outcomes data

Analysing nationally collected data to:

• establish whether assessment outcomes are being used in a way which meets the intended purposes of the assessment arrangements
• understand how the use of assessment outcomes data by local authorities, heads of settings, practitioners, DCSF and Ofsted impacts on assessment practice, and the validity and reliability of the assessment arrangements.

22.29We will publish our annual programme of monitoring. Over time this programme will cover all the stages of the assessment process including the development and delivery of the assessment, suppliers’ delivery systems, teacher and practitioner assessment and moderation

22.30We may re-focus our published programme of monitoring if risks have been identified that threaten the quality or delivery of assessments, or if issues have arisen during a review or health check of a responsible body, its suppliers or their systems.

Guidance for national curriculum and EYFS responsible bodies

22.31We will produce guidance which reflects the purpose of the assessment arrangements and how they are implemented. We will have due regard to the guidance which is produced by other bodies. We will work in partnership with responsible bodies and public authorities to ensure the guidance we produce is consistent and that we do not create an unnecessary burden by, for example, duplicating existing guidance.

22.32The guidance we produce will be designed to allow flexibility in approach to ensure it does not become out of date too quickly, for example by failing to facilitate the transition between bodies that have responsibility for developing or delivering national curriculum tests. The guidance will define the roles and responsibilities of all those involved in the assessment arrangements and the outcomes expected, rather than prescribing a particular process.

Information requirements

22.33To enable us to carry out our role effectively we have the power to require the Secretary of State, national curriculum and EYFS responsible bodies and Ofsted to provide specific information.

22.34When we request information we require we will:

• provide a clear rationale for the information being requested
• provide reasonable notice/timetable to the body from which the information is being requested
• avoid creating unnecessary burden by duplicating information that is already requested or collected by other bodies
• work with responsible bodies to establish effective ways of sharing information
• have due regard to the quality of data and the organisation’s data collection process
• have due regard to the views of teachers, practitioners and other stakeholders when evaluating nationally collected information.

Notification of significant failings

22.35One of the recommendations in Lord Sutherland’s inquiry report³ into the problems with the delivery of national curriculum tests in 2008 was that Ofqual should have a duty to inform the DCSF if it had concerns about the delivery and quality of national curriculum tests. Reflecting this recommendation, the Act requires us to notify the Secretary of State, and the responsible bodies, of a significant failing in the assessment arrangements when we judge there is sufficient evidence to indicate there is, or is likely to be, a failure to achieve one or more of the specified purposes of the assessment arrangements. We will, of course, provide feedback and information to the Secretary of State even when there is not a significant failing, as appropriate.

22.36We propose to consider the following when we assess the likelihood of a significant failing occurring:

• the potential impact on pupils and public confidence in the assessment arrangements
• evidence that responsible bodies are unable to demonstrate that the requirements of the regulatory framework are being satisfactorily met
• any failure of a responsible body to provide information requested by Ofqual in line with the provisions of the Act
• evidence from stakeholder engagement activities indicates the purposes of the assessment arrangements are not being met
• any significant changes to the assessment model and associated quality assurance/moderation arrangements
• substantiated complaints received
• concerns based on relevant and objective information provided by Ofsted. 

22.37Examples of circumstances in which we might notify the Secretary of State and the responsible body of a significant failing in relation to national curriculum assessments include:

• if it became evident to us that there was a risk that significant numbers of test results would be delayed, and that the results would not therefore provide pupils, schools or the government with timely information about the attainment and progress of pupils, where the provision of this information is one of the specified purposes of the assessment; or
• if a new type of national curriculum assessment was being developed which we judged would not provide a reliable assessment of a pupil’s level of attainment.

22.38Examples of circumstances in which we might notify the Secretary of State and the responsible body of a significant failing in EYFS assessments include:

• moderation arrangements do not ensure EYFS assessments give a reliable indication of achievement
• there are shortcomings in the guidance and materials provided to settings which could result in significant variances in the way assessment arrangements are implemented between local authorities, and in turn call into question the consistency of assessments
• stakeholder feedback indicates a lack of confidence in the validity and reliability of assessment outcomes.

Involving stakeholders

22.39The successful delivery of national curriculum and EYFS assessments depends on the involvement of a range of organisations and individuals.  Good regulation depends on putting those who are involved in developing, implementing and receiving the outcomes of the assessment process at the centre of the regulatory process. This approach involves working closely with stakeholders to help identify the focus of our monitoring activities, as well as facilitating the promotion of assessments that meet our criteria. The diagram below illustrates this proposed approach.

22.40We propose to have regular contact with stakeholders (such as QCDA, DCSF, local authorities, Children’s Workforce Development Council, Ofsted, teacher associations, Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors) to:

• gather evidence and feedback on the development and implementation of national curriculum and EYFS assessment arrangements. We would evaluate this evidence against the common criteria of validity, reliability, comparability, manageability and minimising bias, and use it to inform the focus of our monitoring activities
• encourage responsible bodies to develop effective self-assessment mechanisms
• review how the assessment arrangements work in practice against our common criteria and achieve their intended purposes and outcomes
• identify where improvements to existing assessment arrangements could be made
• provide feedback on the outcome of our regulatory activities and share good practice
• identify areas to focus our monitoring for future years.

Parental engagement

22.41One of the key purposes of assessment identified by the Secretary of State’s Expert Group on Assessment is to provide parents with information about their child’s progress.  The views and experiences of parents/guardians/carers will therefore be important to us when we make judgements about the validity and reliability of national curriculum and EYFS assessment arrangements. We will:

• engage with parents through a suitable range of mechanisms (focus groups, questionnaires etc) to generate evidence concerning their experience of the implementation of national curriculum and EYFS assessment arrangements
• seek opinions of practitioners and teachers
• evaluate the extent of parental understanding and engagement with the outcomes of the assessments
• evaluate the level of public confidence in the assessment arrangements and their outcomes.

22.42We will also establish a network of specialists which will be used to:

• inform and validate the focus of our monitoring activities and approach
• provide a link to practitioner and teacher networks
• review and validate the outcomes of our regulatory activities prior to dissemination.

Developing our proposals

22.43The assessment regulatory framework will be finalised in light of responses to both this consultation and further more specific consultations we will undertake.  We will also need to consult on our role in relation to complaints and appeals about assessments.

Questions:

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1. ‘NC responsible body’ means a person who under or by virtue of an order made under section 87(3)(c) of the Education Act 2002 has functions in relation to the development, implementation or monitoring of NC assessment arrangements. ‘EYFS responsible body’ means a person who under or by virtue of an order made under section 39(1)(a) of the Childcare Act 2006 has functions in relation to the development, implementation or monitoring of EYFS assessment arrangements. [↩]
2. The assessment arrangements that fall within Ofqual’s scope are those which are specified by or by virtue of section 87 of the Education Act 2002 and sections 39 to 42 of the Childcare Act 2006. [↩]
3. Lord Sutherland (2008), The Sutherland Inquiry: An independent report into the delivery of national curriculum tests in 2008, London: The Stationary Office [↩]