ABSTRACT
Since the 1980s, assessment and reporting of pupils’ achievements have been placed near the top of the educational and political agenda. The National Curriculum (NC) for England, introduced through the Education Reform Act in 1988 (ERA, 1988), brought with it statutory assessment procedures. Monitoring standards of achievement through assessments of pupils aged 7, 11, 14 and 16, and now at ages 17 and 18, have increasingly become a focus for parents, teachers and others involved in education as well as for media attention, as schools are compared through local and national performance (‘league’) tables. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) website (https://www.qca.org.uk) provides details and should be studied for any updates in arrangements for assessment. Recent changes in curriculum and assessment in England, known as Curriculum 2000, have responded to pressure to reform the post-16 qualifications, introducing changes to the structure of the General Certificate in Education at Advanced level (GCE A level) and introduced new vocational courses (Department for Education and Employment [DfEE]/QCA, 1999).
