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National Curriculum Tests

We will need to pay particular attention to two particular categories of schools. One is middle schools, where pupils leave at 14, and the second is those that have opened as new schools, in which, for the next five years, pupils, as they move through the years, will not have done a year 11 externally marked test. We particularly asked the expert group to consider that issue and advise us on it. We need to ensure, consistent with the right decisions that we have made about key stage 3, that we can provide parents with enough information and certainty about the performance of those schools. This is a particular issue that we will now consider on the basis of the expert group's advice, and I will ensure that my hon. Friend is closely in touch with that work.