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National Curriculum Tests

Volume 507: debated on Wednesday 17 March 2010

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of children in the 10 per cent. (a) most and (b) least deprived areas of the country achieved at least level (a) 2, (b) 2b and (c) 3 in each subject at Key Stage 1 in each year since such assessments were introduced. (317743)

The requested information is given in the following tables for 2004 and 2009. Figures for all years can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Pupils in maintained schools1 achieving Level 2 or above at Key Stage 1 by IDACI decile2, 3 of pupil residence4 in 20045, 6 and 20095

Most deprived 10 per cent.

Least deprived 10 per cent.

Key Stage 1 Reading

2004

Number

57,187

48,131

Percentage

74.9

93.4

2009

Number

55,540

43,583

Percentage

75.9

93.0

Key Stage 1 Writing

2004

Number

53,885

47,165

Percentage

70.7

91.6

2009

Number

51,967

42,636

Percentage

71.0

91.0

Key Stage 1 Mathematics

2004

Number

64,002

49,537

Percentage

83.9

96.1

2009

Number

60,663

44,760

Percentage

82.9

95.6

Key Stage 1 Science

2004

Number

62,159

49,663

Percentage

81.2

96.3

2009

Number

58,977

44,864

Percentage

80.6

95.8

1 Includes pupils attending all maintained schools (including Academies and City Technology Colleges).

2 Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index.

3 IDACI bands for 2008 and 2009 are based on 2007 IDACI scores. Care should be taken when comparing to IDACI tables for 2007 and earlier which are based on 2004 IDACI scores.

4 Only includes pupils who are resident in England. Excludes pupils with missing or invalid postcode information.

5 Data are final.

6 In 2004, new assessment arrangements where only teacher assessments (informed by task/test results) were reported were trialled in some LAs. 2004 figures for reading, writing and maths are based on a combination of test/task and teacher assessment, 2005 and later are based on teacher assessment. 2004 Science figures are based on teacher assessment only.

Pupils in maintained schools1 achieving Level 2B2 or above at Key Stage 1 by IDACI decile3, 4 of pupil residence5 in 20046, 7 and 20096Most deprived 10 per cent.Least deprived 10 per cent.Key Stage 1 Reading2004Number43,29843,273Percentage56.784.02009Number43,92239,648Percentage60.084.6Key Stage 1 Writing2004Number35,96139,251Percentage47.276.22009Number33,84134,952Percentage46.274.6Key Stage 1 Mathematics2004Number48,21144,916Percentage63.287.22009Number45,39240,104Percentage62.085.6 1 Includes pupils attending all maintained schools (including Academies and City Technology Colleges).2 Level 2B can only be achieved in Reading, Writing and Maths.3 Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index.4 IDACI bands for 2008 and 2009 are based on 2007 IDACI scores. Care should be taken when comparing to IDACI tables for 2007 and earlier which are based on 2004 IDACI scores.5 Only includes pupils who are resident in England. Excludes pupils with missing or invalid postcode information.6 Data are final.7 In 2004, new assessment arrangements where only teacher assessments (informed by task/test results) were reported were trialled in some LAs. 2004 figures for reading, writing and maths are based on a combination of test/task and teacher assessment, 2005 and later are based on teacher assessment. 2004 Science figures are based on teacher assessment only.

Pupils in maintained schools1 achieving Level 3 or above at Key Stage 1 by IDACI decile2, 3 of pupil residence4 in 20045, 6 and 20095

Most deprived 10 per cent.

Least deprived 10 per cent.

Key Stage 1 Reading

2004

Number

11,965

21,994

Percentage

15.7

42.7

2009

Number

10,031

18,555

Percentage

13.7

39.6

Key Stage 1 Writing

2004

Number

6,348

12,708

Percentage

8.3

24.7

2009

Number

4,122

9,546

Percentage

5.6

20.4

Key Stage 1 Mathematics

2004

Number

12,705

21,294

Percentage

16.7

41.3

2009

Number

8,184

15,576

Percentage

11.2

33.3

Key Stage 1 Science

2004

Number

10,767

20,335

Percentage

14.1

39.4

2009

Number

7,876

16,501

Percentage

10.8

35.2

1 Includes pupils attending all maintained schools (including Academies and City Technology Colleges).

2 Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index.

3 IDACI bands for 2008 and 2009 are based on 2007 IDACI scores. Care should be taken when comparing to IDACI tables for 2007 and earlier which are based on 2004 IDACI scores.

4 Only includes pupils who are resident in England. Excludes pupils with missing or invalid postcode information.

5 Data are final.

6 In 2004, new assessment arrangements where only teacher assessments (informed by task/test results) were reported were trialled in some LAs. 2004 figures for reading, writing and maths are based on a combination of test/task and teacher assessment, 2005 and later are based on teacher assessment. 2004 Science figures are based on teacher assessment only.

Source:

National Pupil Database

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of children in receipt of free school meals achieved at least level 3 in each subject at key stage 1 in each year since the introduction of such assessments. (317746)

The requested information is given in the following table.

Percentage of pupils achieving each level in key stage 1 assessments by free school meals eligibility, 2002-09: England

Percentage of pupils achieving

Number of eligible pupils

Absent/Unable

Disapplied

Working towards level 1

1

2C

2B

2A

3

4

2+

Reading

2002

106,152

69

2003

102,793

69

2004

106,726

70

2005

101.276

0

0

8

22

18

24

17

11

0

70

2006

95,430

0

0

8

23

18

24

17

10

0

69

2007

94,221

0

0

8

24

17

23

18

11

0

69

2008

90,838

0

0

7

24

17

23

18

10

0

69

2009

92,439

0

0

6

23

17

24

18

11

0

71

Writing

2002 (Writing)

106,153

72

2002 (Spelling)

106,151

61

2003

102,794

64

2004

108,728

66

2005

101,285

0

0

11

22

26

23

12

5

0

66

2006

95.430

0

0

11

24

26

22

12

5

1

65

2007

94,221

0

0

11

26

26

22

11

4

0

83

2008

90,637

0

0

10

26

26

22

11

4

1

64

2009

92,437

0

0

8

26

26

24

12

4

0

86

Mathematics

2002

106.152

81

2003

102,794

80

2004

108,728

80

2005

101,301

0

0

5

13

25

26

21

10

0

81

2006

95,430

0

0

5

14

25

26

20

8

1

80

2007

94,221

0

0

5

15

23

26

21

9

0

80

2008

90,638

0

0

5

16

23

26

21

9

1

79

2009

92,455

0

0

4

16

23

28

20

9

0

80

Science

2005

101,306

0

3

18

68

11

0

78

2006

95.423

0

3

19

68

10

0

78

2007

94,218

0

3

19

68

9

0

77

2008

90,638

0

3

19

68

9

0

77

2009

92,425

0

3

19

69

9

0

78

1 Indicates figure suppressed due to small cohort size.

Notes:

1. Pupil level collection of FSM eligibility began with the 2002 School Census, therefore no data is available prior to 2002.

2. Figures prior to 2004 are based on tests, 2004 are based on a combination of test and teacher assessment, 2005 and later based on teacher assessment.

3. Science figures are unavailable prior to 2005 as science test results were not collected centrally.

4. In 2003 significant changes were introduced to the assessment of writing. A separate level for spelling was not reported separately, instead marks for spelling contributed to the pupils' writing level and there was a new mark scheme for the two writing tasks.

5. Level distributions prior to 2005 are not available.

6. Percentages rounded to nearest percentage point.

7. Data covers maintained schools only.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the correlation between teacher assessment and results in Key Stage (a) 1 and (b) 2; and if he will make a statement. (320767)

The Department only collects teacher assessment results at the end of key stage 1 and so no such analysis is available for that key stage

An analysis of the level of agreement between the 2009 key stage 2 (KS2) teacher assessment and national curriculum test results is provided in the following tables.

Analysis of these data indicates that there is a good match between test performance and teacher assessment data. When interpreting these data, it should be borne in mind that national curriculum test and teacher assessment data will not always correlate. This is because tests provide a snapshot of attainment at the end of the key stage whereas teacher assessment takes into account evidence of attainment in a variety of contexts (such as discussion and observation), throughout the year. Both are vital to ensure rounded, and validated, assessments can be made about each child's performance.

KS2 test level–English (percentage)

Teacher assessment level—English

Below 3

3

4

5

Below 3

82

17

1

0

3

6

63

30

0

4

0

7

79

14

5

0

0

26

74

KS2 test level–Maths (percentage)

Teacher assessment level–Maths

Below 3

3

4

5

Below 3

84

16

1

0

3

7

72

20

0

4

0

8

80

12

5

0

0

13

87

KS2 test level–Science (percentage)

Teacher assessment level–Science

Below 3

3

4

5

Below 3

76

19

4

0

3

4

52

42

2

4

0

5

74

21

5

0

0

14

86

Note:

The figures work across the table, so for a given teacher assessment level it shows the distribution of test levels achieved. Taking English as an example, of those pupils who were teacher assessed at level 4, 79 per cent. achieved a level 4 in the test; 7 per cent. achieved one level below and 14 per cent. achieved one level higher.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department spent on the administration of the national tests in the latest year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. (320768)

The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency's (QCDA) estimate of the costs of delivering the national curriculum tests for key stage 1 and key stage 2 for the 2008-09 financial year was £21,755,000.00. These costs are net of the £19,500,000.00 cash settlement received by QCDA, following termination of the test operations contract with ETS Global BV (ETS) in 2008.