Following the announcement that
key stage 2 (KS2) test dates will move as a result of the
additional bank holiday in honour of the Coronation of His
Majesty King Charles III, the Standards and Testing Agency (STA)
has been working to assess how the change in dates affects other
aspects of the KS2 test cycle for 2023.
After careful consideration, STA is moving the date we return
2023 KS2 test results to schools by one week, to Tuesday 11 July
2023. The Department will publish ‘KS2 attainment 2023: national
headlines’ statistics at 9:30am on the same date.
The later date for return of results means we can extend the
deadline for schools to upload KS2 teacher assessment data on the
Primary Assessment Gateway to Friday 30 June, giving schools and
local authorities more time to check and submit this data. Note
the deadline for submission of key stage 1 teacher assessment
data has not changed and will remain Tuesday 27 June.
Schools should note this change will also impact on the processes
which follow return of results in 2023. The window for schools to
submit marking reviews will move back by one week to Friday 21
July, and the date the Department launches the checking exercise
for school performance data will also move back to Monday 11
September.
We have made this decision as the integrity of the results and
the quality standards we apply are of paramount importance and a
later date for return of results safeguards these for 2023.
Each year, there are six different KS2 papers taken by 650,000
pupils in England, generating some 3.9 million KS2 test scripts.
The aim is to externally mark 3.9 million scripts within 3 weeks
according to our rigorous quality procedures. Marking takes place
throughout this period including at weekends. Once the scripts
are marked, STA undertakes a detailed standards maintenance
process involving in-depth analysis of test data by our
psychometricians. Once this process is completed and we have been
able to set the scaled scores for each subject, the data is
handed over to analysts in the Department for Education to create
‘KS2 attainment 2023: national headlines’ statistics. These
statistics are then published on the same date that individual
test results are returned to schools to enable headteachers to
complete their annual reports to parents. These processes are
complex and run to extremely tight deadlines to ensure that we
can return results by early July.
Prior to the announcement of the additional bank holiday, we had
expected to collect test scripts for mathematics paper 3 on
Friday 12 May. Our approach to collection is designed to allow
schools the discretion to administer the tests at the time of the
day that they determine is best for their pupils, including those
pupils who require additional time. Schools also need time to
pack papers ready for collection. Arranging Parcelforce
collections would add pressure to schools on the day. We
anticipate therefore that the majority of mathematics paper 3
scripts will not be collected until Monday 15 May, a three-day
delay. In addition, we are already aware some schools will need
to use timetable variations as a result of the change of test
dates, due to pre-arranged events on 12 May which cannot be
moved. These factors delay both marking and the standards
maintenance and statistical analysis work that follows.
We have done everything possible to limit the extent of this
delay and appreciate a later date for return of results has a
significant impact on schools. We understand this impact may be
greater where summer holidays commence earlier in July, or where
schools have events booked in the week results will now be
returned. We regret the inconvenience this change will cause
schools. We expect to return to the usual timings in 2024.
Our guidance, including the KS2 assessment and
reporting arrangements, has been updated to reflect the
change of dates in test week and the changes to the dates later
in the cycle. Additionally, we have published electronic
calendars confirming all the final dates, which you can download
from the primary assessments future
dates page on GOV.UK.
We will inform schools via STA’s
assessment updates when any further revised
documentation is available.
