Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in the context of the impact of the covid-19 outbreak on primary education, whether his Department has made an assessment of the appropriateness of the (a) phonics screening check in year 1, (b) autumn term phonics screening check in year 2, (c) key stage 1 SATs in year 2, (d) multiplication tables check in year 4 and (e) key stage 2 SATs in year 6 as a form of assessment.

Answered by Robin Walker

The department is taking forward a full programme of primary assessments to take place in the 2021/22 academic year. The assessments will help parents, schools, and the department to understand more clearly the impact of the pandemic on pupils, and how this varies between particular groups of pupils (for example, disadvantaged pupils), schools, and local authority areas.

At a local level, the data will provide vital information to parents about their child’s attainment, support transition to secondary schools, and identify where additional support is best targeted to individuals. At a national level, the data will help inform policy decisions about support for schools, enable analysis to underpin education recovery initiatives and understand their effectiveness, and to track system progress as we emerge from the pandemic.