Regulation of Statutory National Assessments l

Contents ■Ofqual Responsibilities ■Regulation at GCSE ■The Regulatory Framework □Statutory Objectives □Duties □Functions □Expectations □Review criteria ■Review activities

Ofqual responsibilities The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) regulates qualifications, examinations and assessments in England. Ofqual is a non-ministerial department. Ofqual has statutory objectives set out in Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act When we perform our functions we must (as far as is reasonably practicable) act in a way that is compatible with these objectives. Also we must have regard to a number of statutory duties.

Regulation at GCSE ■Approval of awarding organisations to offer regulated qualifications ■Accreditation of organisations to offer specific qualifications ■Government defines content for qualifications ■Ofqual approves specifications, strategy and sample materials from AOs ■Ofqual also specifies rules for delivery of qualifications ■AOs required to confirm their compliance with the regulations ■AOs to raise with Ofqual instances when they have not complied ■Ofqual monitors, investigates complaints and oversees awarding to secure comparability between exam boards and over time ■This is different to the approach for national assessments where the legislative requirements are less

Responsibilities for Qualifications  Government: ▫Policy, purposes and priorities ▫Curriculum and subject content ▫Use of qualifications for school/college accountability purposes  Ofqual: ▫Standards ▫Validity ▫Efficiency and value ▫Oversight of the system  Exam Boards: ▫Design and delivery ▫Award qualifications to students

The Regulatory Framework ■For national assessments Ofqual acts within its published Regulatory Framework ■The purpose of the framework is to: □set out Ofqual's role and responsibilities and how we meet them □provide guidance to responsible bodies about the performance of their functions in relation to National Assessment arrangements. ■National Curriculum assessment responsible bodies include: □STA □headteachers of maintained schools □local authorities.

Statutory Objectives ■Ofqual has two statutory objectives with regards to national assessments ■The assessment standards objective: to promote the development and implementation of National Assessment arrangements which: □ give a reliable indication of achievement, and □indicate a consistent level of attainment (including over time) between comparable assessments. ■The public confidence objective: to promote public confidence in National Assessment arrangements.

Duties ■Ofqual has two duties with regard to the national assessments: □We must keep under review all aspects of National Assessment arrangements □If it appears to Ofqual that there is, or is likely to be, a significant failing in National Assessment arrangements, we must notify the Secretary of State and any National Curriculum responsible bodies whose act or omission appears to Ofqual to have contributed to the significant failing.

Functions ■In performing our functions, we must have regard to a number of factors, including: □the reasonable requirements of pupils and children, including persons with learning difficulties in relation to National Assessment arrangements □the specified purposes of National Assessment arrangements □aspects of government policy as the Secretary of State may direct □information provided to Ofqual by a person falling within the ASCL Act ■We will consider when undertaking our review function: □the development of tests, tasks and assessment models □the validity and reliability of all assessment outcomes □the responsible body or bodies’ implementation and monitoring activities.

Our Expectations ■The Secretary of State may request our advice on National Assessment arrangements. ■The Secretary of State is required to consult Ofqual before specifying National Assessment arrangements. ■We expect the DfE to consider our recommendations for any changes to current National Assessment arrangements and, in particular, innovative approaches to developing and implementing National Assessment arrangements. ■We expect Ofsted to inform Ofqual of any issues arising as part of its inspection process that may affect the validity, reliability and implementation of National Assessment arrangements.

Review Criteria ■We expect DfE (STA), when developing and delivering national assessments, to meet two sets of criteria: ■The five common criteria which Ofqual apply when regulating all assessments and qualifications: □Validity □Reliability □Comparability □Minimising bias □Manageability ■The specification, which may include the following: □how the assessment is expected to meet its purposes □how the responsible body or bodies will fulfil their roles □how the assessment will meet the common criteria □the form of the assessment □the coverage of the relevant programmes of study.

Responsibilities for National Assessments  Government: ▫Policy, purposes and priorities ▪DfE ▫Curriculum and subject content ▫Use of assessments for school/college accountability purposes ▪DfE (STA) ▫Assessment arrangements ▫Assessment specifications ▫Assessment design and delivery ▫Assessment results  Ofqual: ▫Standards ▫Public confidence  Local Authorities: ▫Moderation of teacher assessments

Validity in national assessments ■Are they designed and delivered in a way that will achieve their purposes? ■The specified purpose of national assessments is: □ascertaining what pupils have achieved in relation to the attainment targets for that stage, and □such other purposes as the Secretary of State specifies by Order. □Two additional “specified purposes”: ▪ascertaining the extent to which pupils in the first key stage understand the correspondence between graphemes and phonemes in English (from 2011) ▪determining the suitability of test materials for use in National Curriculum tests at key stages 1 and 2 (September 2015).

Review Activity in 2016 Test Development and Delivery ■Attendance as an observer at key meetings, including: □Marker training □Standards setting and confirmation □Operational meetings ■Review of key documents, including: □Proposal for approach to multiplication tables test □Statistical First Releases ■Discussions with key staff and stakeholders Teacher Assessment ■Discussions with key staff and stakeholders

Research Activity Key stage 2 mathematics research □Coverage of the mathematics content domain

Questions?