Written question asked by Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative) on Wednesday, 16 March 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 23 March 2005. It was answered by Stephen Twigg (Labour) on Wednesday, 23 March 2005 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Dept for Education and Skills

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what steps she has taken to ensure the timely validation of Key Stage 3 examinations in English in 2005.

Answer: Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she has taken to ensure the timely validation of Key Stage 3 examinations in English in 2005. [223199] Mr. Stephen Twigg: [holding answer 21 March 2005]: The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority's National Assessment Agency (NAA), which is responsible for test administration, has awarded the 2005 contract for test marking and data collection to Pearson Assessment and Testing. NAA is working closely with Pearson to ensure that all lessons learnt from 2004 will be fed into improving test delivery in 2005. However the review of 2004 test delivery conducted by the QCA led them to conclude that extra time is needed to mark Key Stage 3 English tests and validate results. This means that the 2005 Key Stage 3 Achievement and Attainment tables are unlikely to be published before March 2006.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 432 c850W;432 c850-1W; 223199
Session: 2004-05
Subjects: Assessments Contracts English language Standards National Assessment Agency
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk