Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason schools are being asked to provide assessment data for (a) phonics screening and (b) key stage 1 and 2 statutory tests for academic year 2019-20 when those tests did not take place.

In the light of the COVID-19 outbreak and associated school closures, the Department made the decision to cancel Key Stage 1 and 2 national curriculum assessments in the 2019/20 academic year, including the Phonics Screening Check. The Department has made a firm commitment not to hold schools to account on data based on the 2020 assessments. The Department will not be publishing or sharing institution level data from the 2020 assessments and has advised all those working with schools, such as local authorities, to use the previous year’s data when assessing school performance, until new data is available.