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Testing and Assessment

I hate to chastise a member of the Select Committee, but one would have thought that he might read some of the published documents and discussions about the school report card. If he had, he would not have asked a question that was so far off the mark. The school report card, as we set out in the autumn, will be compiled on the basis of a series of different data sources, all of which need to be objective and externally verifiable. They will include data on attainment, progress, the views of parents and children, education outcomes and health outcomes. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and I are working together closely to ensure that progress on the health of children will be reflected in the school report card. The report card will not be written; it will be compiled from a series of externally validated data sources on the basis of clear, widespread consultation. That will be done through statute, which will be brought to the House, and on the basis of an agreement that we believe can be reached consensually. As I said, the report card will be published for every school based on those external data sources, according to a formula that we will consult on and agree. We will bring forward proposals for that formula in the White Paper. It will be externally verifiable, but it will be done school by school— ...By the school, of course. ...Well, I have not answered the question. ...I was instructed that it was quite important that I took a bit of time, Mr Deputy Speaker. We will ensure that this is done in such a way that each school will be able to produce its own report card in the public domain, based on objective criteria on which we will consult widely and which will be independently verified. Each school will be able to produce and publish it. Of course that will be done in consultation with Ofsted and Ofqual to ensure that is objective and done properly. The reason why I was rather surprised by the question is that if the hon. Member for Beverley and Holderness (Mr. Stuart), who is a member of the Select Committee, had studied the reports properly, he would not have asked such a ridiculous question in the first place.