Testing in Year 2
Following the 2017 consultation on primary assessment, it was announced in July 2022 that end of KS1 assessments will no longer be statutory from the academic year 2023 to 2024 onwards. This took effect from 1 September 2023.
The following KS1 assessments are now optional:
- teacher assessment judgements in English reading, English writing, mathematics and science
- tests in English reading and mathematics (the English grammar, punctuation and spelling test will also remain optional)
- where relevant, using the pre-key stage standards or engagement model
Although there is now no legal requirement for schools to undertake or report this data to local authority or the government, we will continue to use the optional assessments provided by the government from 2024 onwards in: English reading; English grammar, punctuation and spelling and mathematics as these assessments will form part of our normal end of year assessment cycle.
There is no longer a requirement for schools to provide an annual report to parents, however we will continue to provide a reference to each child's end of year attainment at the end of Year 2.
The reception baseline assessment (RBA) repaces the end of KS1 assessments as the baseline for cohort level primary progress measures. This will happen when the first cohort with a statutory RBA reaches the end of key stage 2 (KS2) in 2028.
Phonics Re-test Year 2
Children who either did not sit the Year 1 phonics test when in Year 1, or who did not achieve the expected standard, will usually re-sit this during the test cycle in June.