Written question asked by Helen Jones (Labour) on Monday, 8 November 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 15 November 2004. It was answered by David Miliband (Labour) on Monday, 15 November 2004 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 he is taking to encourage the development of appropriate software to assist teachers in monitoring and evaluating pupils' progress; and what advice he has given to (a) schools and (b) local authorities on the use of such software.

Answer: Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to encourage the development of appropriate software to assist teachers in monitoring and evaluating pupils' progress; and what advice he has given to (a) schools and (b) local authorities on the use of such software. [197639] Mr. Miliband: My Department produces the Pupil Achievement Tracker software which schools can use to review their overall performance and that of individual pupils, identify their strengths and weaknesses and set targets for future progress. Commercial software suppliers are encouraged to develop similar features in their own products. The Department provides schools and LEAs with information about the Pupil Achievement Tracker and encourages them to use this and other software where it facilitates analysis of pupils' progress. General guidance, details of packages that provide assessment capability, together with some "good practice" case studies are also available on the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) website.

Secondary information