Assessment without levels – tracking progress in key stages 1-3

In 2014 a new National Curriculum for Key stages 1-4 was published, and National Curriculum levels for Key Stages 1-3 were removed. School assessment processes needed updating and guidance on non-statutory assessment was generated by a government commission report. This report concluded that in-school formative assessment, in-school tracking of progress, and statutory assessment are three different things, each with a different purpose. It was made clear that schools were to generate their own internal systems for assessment and tracking, suited to their particular circumstances. Many schools continued to use purchased trackers which were updated to match the new curriculum; others set up their own systems using or adapting the National Curriculum expectations for teaching as assessment criteria. The situation has been further complicated in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, where statutory assessment processes and future plans have been disrupted. This paper seeks to explore the background to, and sometimes confusion around, the current situation, notes the influence of statutory assessment on school assessment processes for all year groups, ponders the impact of the pandemic, especially with missing test data at the end of Key Stage 2, and concludes with questions to be explored in planned research