§ Lorna FitzsimonsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the timetable for the development of a national system of individualised pupil records which will assess(a) the value added by each school and (b) the progress made by pupils within them. [90419]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeValue added measures, based on the results of individual pupils and measured between two stages of education require each pupil to be reliably identified. Early National Curriculum test results were not collected in this way but suitable data are gradually becoming available. The 'Unique Pupil Number', which we intent to introduce nationally this autumn, will streamline future data collection exercises. In the meantime, we are aiming to publish Key Stage 3 to GCSE/GNVQ value added measures for each school in the 2000 secondary performance tables.
Schools are also already able to compare the progress made by their pupils (between all the National Curriculum Key Stages, and up to GCSE/GNVQ) with average national progress using a package of information produced jointly in the autumn by the Department, QCA and Ofsted. This is the second year for the package, following an enthusiastic reception from schools when it was introduced in 1998.