Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 19 January 2022 to Question 101845 on Numeracy, on what date the Statutory Instrument was laid which amended the Education Order 2003 (National Curriculum, Key Stage 2 Assessment Arrangements, England) in 2019 to make provision for the statutory administration of the multiplication tables check.

The Education (National Curriculum) (Key Stage 2 Assessment Arrangements) (England) (Amendment) Order 2019 was made on 10 April 2019. This amended the Education (National Curriculum) (Key Stage 2 Assessment Arrangements) (England) Order 2003 to make provision for the statutory administration of the multiplication tables check (MTC) for all eligible year 4 pupils from the 2019/20 academic year. Due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, the department cancelled all primary assessments, including the MTC, in the 2019/20 and 2020/21 academic years, and disapplied the legislation for these assessments for these two academic years.

The department has confirmed that statutory primary assessments will take place in the 2021/22 academic year, including the MTC.