The Education (National Curriculum) (Key Stage 1 Assessment Arrangements) (England) (Amendment) Order 2011

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Education (National Curriculum) (Key Stage 1 Assessment Arrangements) (England) Order 2004 (“the 2004 Order”) to include provisions about an assessment of pupils aged six which will assess the extent to which they understand the correspondence between graphemes and phonemes in the English language. Phonemes are the smallest units of sound in a language, and graphemes are the letter or letters that represent phonemes.

The assessment are to be conducted by a teacher, who will record pupils’ responses (article 5A(1) and (2) of the 2004 Order, inserted by article 4 of this Order). Pupils who do not reach the minimum score in the year in which they are first assessed will undergo the assessment again, in the following school year.

Local authorities are obliged to visit at least 10% of maintained schools in their area which are to carry out the assessments, to monitor compliance (article 6A of the 2004 Order, inserted by article 6 of this Order). If as a result the authority has concerns about the assessments carried out at a school it must inform the head teacher of the school and the Secretary of State (article 6A(4)).

The Secretary of State may make delegated supplementary provisions about the assessment which can include provisions about the time and manner in which the assessment is to be administered (article 9 of the 2004 Order, inserted by article 7 of this Order). If he does so, he must first consult the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation and such other persons as he considers appropriate. Article 8 makes provision in relation to consultation carried out by the Secretary of State prior to this Order coming into force.

An impact assessment has not been prepared for this instrument as impacts on business, charities, voluntary bodies and the public sector will be minimal.