Statutory guidance

Key stage 2 and phonics: maladministration investigation visits guidance

Updated 25 March 2024

Introduction

This guidance is for local authorities, to enable them to conduct school visits as part of the Standards and Testing Agency’s (STA) investigations into allegations of maladministration in the national curriculum assessments during the academic year 2023 to 2024.

Why school visits are needed

STA may ask local authorities to visit schools as part of an investigation into maladministration of the phonics screening check, or the key stage 2 (KS2) tests or teacher assessment. The main purpose of these visits is to gather information about:

• a school’s procedures for keeping phonics screening check or KS2 test materials secure
• how a school has administered the check or tests
• the measures a school has put in place to ensure their teacher assessment data is accurate

The maladministration investigation procedures explain how STA investigates allegations of maladministration.

Who can manage or conduct a school visit?

Local authority representatives must carry out visits impartially and manage any conflict of interest.

Two members of local authority staff will be needed for the visit:

• a lead interviewer
• a second interviewer to act as a note taker

They must both be familiar with this guidance and specification provided for the visit.

If there are any other ongoing investigations at the school, different representatives should carry out each investigation. This will avoid a conflict of interest between an STA maladministration investigation, which the school visit supports, and any other separate investigations at the school. Where local authority staff are involved in both investigations, they must make it clear to interviewees which investigation they are being interviewed about.

Preparing for a school visit

Before the visit, STA will provide a tailored visit specification that describes the requirements for the visit and discuss this with you to clarify what information you need to gather. If you require a list of the words used in the phonics screening check, the school should provide this for you.

All information collected must comply with the:

• Data Protection Act 2018
• UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
• Freedom of Information Act 2000

You must treat any information given to you as confidential, including:

• interview notes
• check and test timetables
• seating plans
• written statements
• emails
• text messages
• photographs

Only members of local authority staff involved in the school visit should have access to this information. This will ensure the integrity of the investigation is not compromised. You must provide all information to STA.

Notifying the headteacher

The lead interviewer should contact the headteacher to:

• organise a date and time for the visit - you should contact the school the day before, avoiding visits on Mondays or other days where you would have to inform the school just before a weekend
• explain the purpose of the visit
• inform them of who will need to be interviewed, which is all those involved in the administration of the check, tests or teacher assessment, and agree any specific arrangements
• ensure they are aware of the maladministration investigation procedures

Depending on the nature of the case, you should explain that the aim of the visit is to gather information on behalf of STA in relation to either:

• how the check or tests were administered, including secure storage of materials, who was involved in the check or test administration, any access arrangements used and timetable variation information
• how teacher assessment judgements were produced - this could include reviewing evidence of pupils’ work against the teacher assessment frameworks

If the headteacher is not aware of the nature of the allegation, you should explain that you will share this with them when you arrive at their school.

Additional support for interviewees

Interviewees may be accompanied during the interview by their union representative or someone else to provide them with moral support. You should ask the headteacher whether anyone wishes to be accompanied. If a member of staff requests union representation, you may need to reschedule the visit to accommodate this. The headteacher must make sure there is no conflict of interest with anyone attending in a support role. Interviewees cannot provide support roles to other interviewees.

At the start of the visit

You must meet the headteacher or a delegated senior member of staff on your arrival at the school. Use this meeting to introduce yourselves and to confirm your roles and arrangements for the visit. You should also explain the nature of the allegation at this point.

Conducting interviews

The lead interviewer should use the specification provided by STA to carry out the interview. It may not be necessary to ask all interviewees all of the questions on the specification. You should, however, ensure you have a thorough understanding of each person’s role in the administration of the check or tests, or in producing the teacher assessment judgements.

At the start of each interview, introduce yourselves and explain that:

• you are visiting the school on behalf of STA due to an allegation of maladministration
• the lead interviewer will ask the questions, with the second interviewer taking notes of the discussions and asking any additional questions as they see fit
• the headteacher has confirmed whether the interviewee does or does not want additional representation
• at the end of the interview, you will ask the interviewee to read and sign the notes from the interview to verify their accuracy
• notes from the interview will not be shared with the headteacher or copied
• you will use the notes to create a report for STA
• STA will share the report with the school for comment and redact any personal or identifying information, where appropriate
• STA does not apportion blame for any proven maladministration - any subsequent disciplinary proceedings are the responsibility of the school’s governing body or academy trust

At the end of each interview, make sure that the interviewee agrees and signs the notes of the discussion as an accurate record.

STA recommends you interview the headteacher or delegated senior member of staff last.

Before leaving the school

After you have finished your interviews, you must explain the next steps of the investigation to the headteacher or delegated senior member of staff. Explain that you will supply STA with the information gathered during the school visit and that STA will contact the school shortly after the visit. STA aims to complete investigations in a timely manner. Advise the headteacher or delegated senior member of staff that the school’s results may be withheld pending the outcome of the investigation.

Reporting your findings

After the visit, the lead interviewer must produce and submit an electronic report, summarising their findings, to [email protected].

STA will then redact any personal or identifying information and share the report with the headteacher. If there is doubt over the accuracy of pupils’ results, STA will also provide the relevant findings. The headteacher will have an opportunity to respond with any further information for STA to consider as part of the investigation.

STA’s maladministration case manager will then make a recommendation, based on all the findings, to STA’s senior decision maker, who will decide whether further action is necessary. STA will inform the school, local authority and school’s governing body or academy trust of the final decision and any required actions, as appropriate.