(2) when Ofqual received Lord Sutherland's interim report into the management of the Key Stage tests in 2008; and if he will publish the interim report.
Lord Sutherland is conducting an inquiry into the problems that occurred in 2008 with the delivery of national curriculum tests. Lord Sutherland met with the Ofqual Committee on 16 October to provide an update on the progress of his inquiry. Lord Sutherland has indicated that he does not intend to publish an interim report. The inquiry anticipates presenting the final recommendations to Ofqual and the Secretary of State before the end of the year and this report will be published.
Neither I nor my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State have met ETS. We do, however, regularly meet with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, of which the National Assessment Agency is a division. Recent meetings have included discussions on the administration and marking of key stage tests in 2008, which are now the subject of an independent inquiry being chaired by Lord Sutherland.
DCSF officials also have regular meetings with QCA and NAA and have attended some joint meetings with NAA and ETS.
(2) what requests were made by ETS for changes in the key stage 2 and 3 marking contract for the 2008 tests; which of these requests were (a) granted and (b) refused; how long it took for a decision to be made in each case; and if he will make a statement;
(3) how many changes to the key stage 2 and 3 contract with ETS were made by (a) the National Assessment Agency and (b) the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority between September 2007 and July 2008; what the content was of each such change; when the changes were notified; and if he will make a statement;
(4) what warnings were given by ETS to (a) the National Assessment Agency and (b) the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority about risks in delivering the 2008 key stage tests in (i) 2007 and (ii) 2008; when these were made; and if he will make a statement;
(5) when ETS asked the National Assessment Agency and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority to terminate its contract for the key stage tests; and if he will make a statement.
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) is responsible for the development and administration of National Curriculum tests. The National Assessment Agency (NAA) administers the tests and managed the delivery contract with ETS Europe, on QCA's behalf.
The contract awarded to ETS required face-to-face training of markers to continue as usual. During the procurement process suppliers were encouraged to offer improvements or innovations to improve marking quality.
Schedule 1 of the contract required ETS to pilot and seek approval for innovations that did not replicate the existing process at the effective date of the contract. It was agreed that ETS would plan and conduct a pilot to ensure suitability and robustness.
The NAA agreed to accept three of the proposed marking improvements, standardisation, benchmarking and online mark entry. NAA rejected mandatory online training for experienced maths and science markers, but allowed it to be used on an opt-in basis. The NAA believed online marker training could make an important contribution in later cycles. However, the marker ratings made it clear that the ETS online marker training as trialled would cause significant dissatisfaction and attrition during a critical period of the delivery cycle.
ETS Europe first alerted the NAA concerning a potential failure in delivering the 2008 National Curriculum test results in late June 2008. The first “without prejudice” discussion at which ETS Europe indicated it may be interested in terminating the contract, occurred on 8 July 2008.
The following table outlines the changes that were suggested for the 2008 test cycle.
Description Date Initiated by Acceptance Statutory collection of reasons for KS3 absence 2 April 2007 DCSF NAA carried out this work Removal of year 7 progress tests from contract scope 2 April 2007 DCSF Accepted by NAA and ETS Provision of component level reviews for KS2 and KS3 English 2 April 2007 DCSF NAA carried out this work Provision of KS2 English item level results data 2 April 2007 DCSF Rejected by NAA and ETS Removal of KS3 ICT results data from contract scope 2 April 2007 DCSF Accepted by NAA and ETS Transportation security (request to remove the contractual requirement to ‘double man’ vehicles carrying bulk test material) 15 November 2007 ETS Rejected by NAA Fire security (request to remove the contractual requirement to install sprinkler systems in central distribution warehouse) 15 November 2007 ETS Accepted by NAA Additional CCTV cameras to improve security of central distribution warehouse) 1 February 2008 NAA Accepted by ETS Cost of providing face-to-face marker training for experienced Maths and Science markers following rejection of online training 12 February 2008 ETS Rejected by NAA Cost of 'additional' markers which ETS intended to recruit above 10,000 estimate 29 February 2008 ETS Rejected by NAA Publication of schools guide which ETS claim was not included in the definitive ‘book of work’ 29 February 2008 ETS Rejected by NAA Cost of ‘additional’ schools which ETS claimed were not specified in the contract 29 February 2008 ETS Rejected by NAA Cost of marking pilot which ETS claimed was more extensive than originally scoped 29 February 2008 ETS Rejected by NAA Cost of paying ‘additional’ fees to markers which were above those paid for 2007 29 February 2008 ETS Rejected by NAA Additional fees paid to KS2 and KS3 Maths markers to recognise high level of marks data entry required by this subject 27 May 2008 ETS Accepted by NAA (NAA met the cost of this change)
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) is responsible for the development and administration of national curriculum tests. The National Assessment Agency (NAA) administers the tests and managed the delivery contract with ETS Europe on QCA's behalf.
ETS Europe did not propose a full-scale logistics pilot to the NAA for the 2008 KS2 and KS3 tests. In July 2007, ETS proposed a pilot involving a maximum of 100 schools. The final pilot proposal presented by ETS in December 2007 only required the involvement of 50 schools.
All schools' end of key stage 2 test results will continue to be published in the achievement and attainment tables.
Schools whose pupils took single level tests in December 2007 and June 2008 have been notified of the outcome.
The Making Good Progress pilot is being externally evaluated by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Analysis of the first two rounds of single level tests will be included as part of their interim report on the first year of the pilot; to be published later this year.
The Department does not hold the minutes of meetings which take place between the National Assessment Agency (NAA) and the Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator (Ofqual). The hon. Member may wish to approach the NAA and/or Ofqual directly for this information.
Key stage 2 results are a robust and consistent source of information for parents at a crucial transition point for their child as they move on to secondary school. The tests provide a view of the progress of every child, allowing teachers to best meet the needs of each child. The tests are also important in providing a suitable level of accountability for the public to hold national and local government and governing bodies to account on the performance of schools. It is appropriate that tests used for such purposes should be externally marked.
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) is responsible for the development and administration of national curriculum tests. The National Assessment Agency (NAA) administers the tests on QCA’s behalf, including the 2009 procurement process.
NAA advise that the Invitation to Tender for the 2009 procurement process has not yet ended. Information about the number of companies tendering for the work will not be released until a supplier has been appointed.