Education (School Information and Prospectuses) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003

Interpretation

3.—(1) In these Regulations –

“assessment outcome” in relation to any pupil means the level of attainment achieved by that pupil in the statutory assessment at the end of the first, second or third key stage;

“educational theme” has the meaning ascribed to it in Article 8(1) of the 1989 Order;

“external test” means a test, set and marked by the Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment, in accordance with the statutory arrangements for the assessment of pupils at the end of the third key stage;

“AVCE” means the Advanced Vocational Certificate of Education;

“GCE A Level” means the General Certificate of Education at Advanced Level;

“GCSE” means the General Certificate of Secondary Education;

“GNVQ” means the General National Vocational Qualification;

“level of attainment” means a level set out in any document of a kind referred to in Article 7(5)(1) of the 1989 Order the provisions of which have effect, or (as the case may be) have effect as amended, by virtue of any order made under Article 7(1) of that Order;

“nursery unit” means a unit approved by the Department for the purpose of providing education for children who have attained the age of two years but who have not attained the lower limit of compulsory school age;

“other qualification” means a qualification other than GCSE, GCE A Level, AVCE or GNVQ, provided by an examining body listed in Schedule 5;

“public examinations” means GCSE, GCE, AVCE and equivalent examinations;

“relevant board”, in relation to a grant-aided school, means the board in whose area the school is situated;

“relevant school”, in relation to a board, means a grant-aided school situated in the board’s area;

“school prospectus” shall be construed in accordance with regulation 6(4)(a);

“school year” means a year beginning on 1st August and ending on 31st July following, both dates inclusive;

“special education unit” means a unit approved by the Department for the purpose of making educational provision for pupils with special educational needs;

“teacher assessment” means the assessment of a pupil by a teacher, in accordance with the statutory arrangements for the assessment of pupils at the end of the first, second or third key stage;

“the 1986 Order” means the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986(2);

“the 1989 Order” means the Education Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 1989;

“the 1997 Order” means the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1997;

“the 1998 Order” means the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1998(3);

“the Department” means the Department of Education;

“transfer procedure test grade” means the grade achieved by a pupil on his performance in a test or tests administered in accordance with arrangements specified by the Department as part of the arrangements for the transfer of pupils from primary to secondary education;

“year 1”, in relation to any pupil, means the first school year of key stage 1;

“year 8”, in relation to any pupil, means the first school year of key stage 3;

“year 11”, in relation to any pupil, means the first school year of key stage 4;

“year 12”, in relation to any pupil, means the final school year of key stage 4;

“year 13”, in relation to any pupil, means the school year beginning on 1st August after year 12;

“year 14”, in relation to any pupil, means the school year beginning on 1st August after year 13.

(2) In these Regulations any reference to the date up to which parents may express a preference for a school is a reference to the date by which, in accordance with arrangements made by the relevant board in pursuance of Article 9(1) of the 1997 Order, a parent wishing education to be provided for his child in the exercise of the board’s functions should express such a preference.

(3) In these Regulations the requirement to express information as a percentage shall be construed so that, where that number is not a whole number, it shall be rounded to the nearest whole number with those of half a percentage point or more being rounded upwards to the next whole number.

(4) In these Regulations any reference to the statutory arrangements for the assessment of pupils at the end of any key stage means the arrangements made under Article 7(4) of the 1989 Order for the assessment of pupils in subjects at the end of that key stage and “statutory assessment” shall be construed accordingly.