This article covers the assessment of pupils in compulsory full-time secondary education. aged 11–16 (Key Stages 3 and 4, ISCED 2 and 3).

Pupil/students assessment

Responsibility for pupil assessment is shared.

The Secretary of State for Education is the Cabinet minister in charge of the Department for Education. Under the Education Act 2002, he/she has overall responsibility for the assessment arrangements in relation to each subject for each key stage of the national curriculum. The Secretary of State is also responsible for approving qualifications offered to students under 19 years of age, under the Learning and Skills Act 2000.

Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation, is the independent regulator of the qualifications taken in schools and colleges. It is a non-ministerial government department, operating under the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 and the Education Act 2011.

Awarding organisations or AOs design and develop qualifications in line with regulatory requirements. Those that provide general qualifications are also known as exam boards.

Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, makes judgements on the quality of the curriculum, teaching and assessment during school inspections. It is a non-ministerial government department, responsible for school inspection under the provisions of the Education Act 2005 (as amended).

Schools are responsible for formative assessment, which is used by teachers to evaluate pupils’ knowledge and understanding on a day-to-day basis and to tailor teaching accordingly. They are also responsible for in-school summative assessment, which enables teachers to evaluate how much a pupil has learned at the end of a teaching period. Responsibility for assessment is shared between the executive leadership (headteacher in the case of a maintained school) and the governing board / academy trust.

Assessment in Key Stage 3 

Schools are free to choose their approach to assessment during Key Stage 3 (ages 11 to 14). There are no statutory national tests.

To support schools, recommended assessment principles were drawn up by an expert panel appointed by government, and published in April 2014. In addition, more detailed guidance is provided in the final report of the Commission on Assessment Without Levels, and in the Government’s response (2015) (see the ‘Historical note’ below). Key recommendations in these guidance documents include that:

• assessment should check what pupils have learned and whether they are on track to meet age-related expectations
• assessment should include formative and summative approaches to support pupil attainment and progression
• assessment of pupils’ attainment and progress should be linked to the curriculum and used to support continuous improvement in teaching practice 
• schools should place a high value on day-to-day formative assessment that does not rely heavily on the collection of data
• pupils should achieve a secure and deep understanding of curriculum content before moving on to new content.

Schools are not required to specifically report the results of assessments to external agencies or to parents during this key stage. They must though report overall pupil progress to parents (see the subheading ‘Pupil records and reports’ below).

Research published by the DfE in December 2018 identified the main components of primary and secondary schools’ assessment approaches as formative assessment, summative assessment, moderation, and tracking and reporting systems.

Historical note

Until the 2008/09 school year, there was statutory assessment at the end of Key Stage 3 (age 14), in the form of externally set and marked tests in English, maths and science. The tests were discontinued in 2008/09, but a requirement for statutory teacher assessment at the end of Key Stage 3 in the compulsory core national curriculum subjects of English, maths and science remained in place until 2013/14. Since 2013/14, there have been no statutory assessment requirements in Key Stage 3.

In addition, until September 2015, a system of level descriptors was in place to describe pupil performance in the national curriculum core subjects. The level descriptors were a 1- to 8-level scale spanning Key Stages 1 to 3 (ages 5-14). They indicated the types and range of performance that a pupil working at a particular level should demonstrate over a period of time. Teachers used their knowledge of a child’s work to judge which level description was closest to his/her performance. The Government removed the levels in September 2015, taking the view that this ‘best fit’ model was detrimental to pupil progress, as it was not always clear in which areas of the curriculum a child was secure and what the gaps in his/her knowledge were. It also established the Commission on Assessment Without Levels – an independent group of education experts, in March 2015, to develop guidance to support schools in assessing pupils following the removal of levels.

Assessment in Key Stage 4 

There are no statutory national tests in Key Stage 4; summative assessment in Key Stage 4 is through external qualifications at the end of the key stage (age 16). The most commonly taken qualification is the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) (see the section on 'Certification' below).

Formative assessment during this key stage is focused on tracking progress towards these qualifications.

Pupil records and reports 

Maintained schools have a duty to keep a curricular record for each pupil; transfer a pupil’s educational record to the new school when a pupil changes school; and provide an annual report of the pupil’s educational achievements at school.

As outlined in guidance from the Department for Education, this written annual report must be provided for parents (or the pupil him/herself if he/she is over 18) before the end of the summer term (July). It must include:

• a brief description of the pupil’s progress in each subject and activity studied as part of the school curriculum (including religious education)
• the results of any external examinations entered
• details of the pupil’s general progress
• arrangements for parents to discuss the report with a teacher at the school
• details of the pupil’s attendance record.

Reporting requirements for maintained schools are specified in The Education (Pupil Information) (England) Regulations 2005 (as amended). 

Academies are also required, through their funding agreements, to provide parents with an annual written report of each pupil’s progress and attainment in the main subject areas taught.

Progression of pupils/students 

Progression of pupils from one class to the next is a matter of custom and practice, rather than a legal requirement. In practice, pupils almost always progress automatically to the next year.

Low attainment of individual pupils is addressed through differentiated teaching and the provision of additional support, rather than by repetition of a year. Academically gifted pupils are similarly supported through differentiated teaching and support.

The expectation of inclusiveness is embedded in the national curriculum. Pupils are placed out of their age-related year group only in exceptional circumstances.

Certification 

Qualifications offered to students of compulsory school age must be approved by the Secretary of State as suitable for this age group in order to be eligible for funding. This is determined by Section 96 of the Learning and Skills Act 2000. Eligible qualifications are contained within the government database of approved qualifications.

All approved qualifications are regulated by Ofqual, the regulatory body for general and vocational qualifications, and can be found on Ofqual’s Register of Regulated Qualifications.

While schools are free to offer any qualification approved as suitable for pupils in Key Stage 4 (ages 14-16), they are incentivised by the accountability system (the EBacc, and the Progress 8 and Attainment 8 headline accountability measures, and the school and college performance tables) to offer a broad and balanced curriculum, with a focus on an academic core. The school and college performance tables are published each year to inform parents and those responsible for monitoring educational standards in England (including school governing boards, government bodies, local authorities, and schools and colleges themselves). The Government’s statements of intent on the school and college performance tables provide further information.

At the end of  Key Stage 4 (age 16), students take qualifications that fall into three groups:

• GCSEs - the main method of student assessment at this stage
• non-GCSE technical and vocational qualifications
• Entry Level qualifications.

GCSEs 

The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is the main method of student assessment in this phase of education. It is a single subject qualification typically taken at age 16 at the end of a two-year programme of study. GCSEs are available in a wide range of general (academic) subjects and in some vocational / applied areas. Students typically take eight or more subjects.

The GCSE (9 to 1) Qualification Level Conditions and Requirements (Ofqual, 2019) state (page 3) that the purpose of the qualifications is to provide:

• evidence of students’ achievements against demanding and fulfilling content
• a strong foundation for further academic and vocational study and for employment
• (if required) a basis for schools and colleges to be held accountable for the performance of all of their students.

GCSEs are provided and certified by external awarding organisations (AOs), working within a common regulatory framework. AOs’ GCSE specifications must be accredited by Ofqual – the qualifications regulator – as meeting its qualification-specific requirements. For further information on the regulation of qualifications, see the article on the ‘National Qualifications Framework’.

Assessment methods 

Assessment arrangements form part of qualification specifications; all available qualification specifications can be accessed via Ofqual’s Register of Regulated Qualifications.

The subject-level conditions and requirements for each GCSE subject outline the assessment arrangements for the qualifications.

Assessment is mainly by written examination. Other types of assessment are used only where they are needed to test specific skills. For example, for the GCSE in dance, a proportion of the total marks are allocated to a performance task, and a proportion to a choreography task.

GCSE examinations in maths, science and modern foreign languages are available in two tiers - a ‘foundation tier’ and a ‘higher tier’. The aim is to ensure that, for qualifications that are designed for a wide ability range, the examination papers allow students the opportunity to show their knowledge and abilities.

Marking and grading 

After students have taken their GCSE exams in May and June, their papers are marked by the awarding organisation’s examiners. GCSEs are graded 9 to 1 (where 9 is the highest available grade). A grade 5 is considered a ‘strong pass’; a grade 4 is considered a ‘standard pass’ and is a Level 2 qualification (on the Regulated Qualifications Framework, RQF).

The awarding organisation’s examiners are trained to mark to a required standard using a mark scheme and, once all exam papers have been marked, grade boundaries are set.

All awarding organisations must have awarding processes that meet Ofqual’s rules. The basic principle (known as ‘comparable outcomes’) is that if the ability of the group of students taking a qualification is similar to previous years, the results are expected to be similar.

A National Reference Test provides additional information to support the awarding of GCSEs. Before the GCSE examinations take place, annual tests in English and maths are taken by a nationally representative sample of students; the results are used to inform any changes in GCSE performance standards.

Results and certificates 

Awarding organisations release GCSE results to schools (centres) and candidates in late August. They are deemed to be provisional to allow any queries to be resolved before certificates are issued. Certificates are sent to schools about eight weeks after results day. They include the following information:

• date of exam series (e.g. May/June 2019)
• awarding organisation
• centre
• student details
• qualification name and number
• grade awarded.

Reform of GCSEs 

GCSEs were reformed during the period 2015-2018. The reforms introduced changes to both subject content and assessment, and aimed to increase the rigour of the qualifications. They included:

• the introduction of a numerical 9-point grading scale, to replace the previous A* to G grading scale and allow greater differentiation
• linear, i.e. end-of-course assessment, replacing assessment at the end of GCSE units (i.e. modular assessment)
• an increased focus on externally marked, written examinations, which became the default form of assessment. Other types of assessment are now used only where they are needed to test practical skills, and teacher assessment through ‘controlled assessment’ (teacher-supervised internal coursework assessment) is no longer used.

For more information on the reforms, see the House of Commons Library briefing (March 2017).

Technical and vocational qualifications 

A range of non-GCSE technical and vocational / applied qualifications is also available. Students may opt to study these alongside general (academic) and vocational / applied GCSEs in Key Stage 4 (ages 14 – 16).

These technical and vocational/applied qualifications (or ‘technical awards’) are offered by a range of awarding organisations, and the regulatory requirements are broadly similar to those for GCSEs.

While schools are free to offer any qualification approved as suitable for pupils in Key Stage 4, they are incentivised by the accountability system to offer only those qualifications judged to be high quality. It is only those technical and applied qualifications that meet stretching requirements that are recognised in the school and college performance tables. These technical awards can count for up to three of the eight qualifications in the Progress 8 and Attainment 8 headline accountability measures.

Eligible technical and vocational qualifications focus on the applied study of a sector or occupational group and must offer an equivalent level of rigour and challenge to GCSEs. They include qualifications in, for example, art and design; child development; health and social care; engineering; ICT; and travel and tourism.

As for GCSEs, assessment arrangements form part of individual qualification specifications. Technical awards are usually assessed through a combination of:

• internally assessed assignments, usually set and marked by the school and moderated by the awarding organisation for the qualification
• external assessment, set and marked by the awarding organisation.

At this level, technical and vocational qualifications usually have a pass, merit and distinction grading scale. 

Further information on approved technical and vocational qualifications is available in Technical Guidance published by the Department for Education (DfE).

Entry Level qualifications 

There are a number of approved Entry Level qualifications available for pupils who are not judged ready for GCSE or similar qualifications at the end of Key Stage 4 (age 16). These qualifications constitute the first levels of the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) and aim to encourage progression to, for example,  Level 1 or Level 2 qualifications.

Entry Level qualifications are offered by a range of awarding organisations and the regulatory requirements are broadly similar to those for GCSEs. Assessment arrangements form part of individual qualification specifications, and Entry Level qualifications are usually internally assessed and externally moderated by the awarding organisation.

As with other qualifications at this level, learners receive a certificate recording their achievement. Awarding organisations release provisional results to centres and learners in advance of certificates being issued to allow any queries to be resolved.

Article last reviewed April 2021.