§ Mr. BradleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education if the key stage 3 English tests were carried out and marked according to new Department guidelines; and if she will make a statement. [31150]
§ Mr. ForthThere is no hard evidence yet of a systematic problem with the marking of the English tests for 14-year-olds.
The School Curriculum and Assessment Authority, which is responsible for developing the tests and organising the marking, has taken a number of steps to ensure that the system is robust and reliable; tests and the marking instructions were trialled extensively in schools; all the external markers were trained to national standards; and there were quality checks in place during marking process.
If schools are not satisfied with the results their pupils received, there is a procedure for requesting a re-mark which schools should use.