Statutory guidance

National curriculum assessments: maladministration investigation procedures

Updated 25 March 2024

Introduction

The Standards and Testing Agency (STA) has a statutory duty, on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education, to investigate matters which relate to the accuracy of pupils’ results and outcomes in the national curriculum assessments.

STA’s remit is to determine whether there is doubt over the accuracy of pupils’ results or assessments. The legal basis for this is set out in:

• The Early Years Foundation Stage (Miscellaneous Amendments) and Childcare Fees (Amendment) Regulations 2021
• The Education (National Curriculum) (Key Stage 1 Assessment Arrangements) (England) Order 2004 (as amended)
• The Education (National Curriculum) (Key Stage 2 Assessment Arrangements) (England) Order 2003 (as amended)

This publication is for local authorities, school leaders, school staff and accountable bodies in all maintained schools, academies, free schools and participating independent schools. It outlines STA’s procedures for investigating allegations of maladministration of national curriculum assessments. Investigations are designed to safeguard the integrity of the assessments.

This document covers the:

• reception baseline assessment (RBA)
• phonics screening check
• multiplication tables check (MTC)
• key stage 2 (KS2) tests and teacher assessment

Matters reported to STA about the accuracy of pupils’ results in the national curriculum assessments are referred to as ‘allegations of maladministration’ within these procedures.

Maladministration refers to any act that:

• affects the integrity, security or confidentiality of the national curriculum assessments
• could lead to results that do not reflect pupils’ unaided work
• compromises the validity and integrity of the data used by secondary schools (for pupil planning and subsequent pupil learning), the Department for Education and parents

All references to ‘schools’ apply to the different types of schools as set out in section 12.1 of the 2023 RBA assessment and reporting arrangements (ARA), section 9.1 of the phonics screening check ARA and section 14.1 of the 2024 KS2 ARA.

If you are involved in administering a check or test in the academic year 2023 to 2024, you should prepare by reading the relevant guidance from the:

• RBA ARA
• phonics screening check ARA
• phonics screening check administration guidance
• KS2 ARA
• MTC administration guidance
• KS2 test administration guidance

Examples of maladministration

Maladministration of the RBA, phonics screening check, MTC or KS2 tests can be unintentional or intentional. It can include:

• test or check administrators over-aiding pupils
• making changes to pupils’ test scripts
• schools reporting pupils’ phonics screening check scores incorrectly
• schools allowing pupils to re-sit an assessment
• schools allowing pupils to restart the MTC for a reason other than those permitted in guidance
• unauthorised additional time or timetable variation in the KS2 tests
• failure to notify STA of the use of a scribe, transcribe, word processors, or other technical or electronic aid in the KS2 tests
• failure to appropriately remove or cover room displays
• early opening of assessment materials without permission
• disclosing test content to a third party or publicly, including online or on social media, before and within the test window

Maladministration of teacher assessment can include:

• changes to teacher assessment judgements by school staff to influence school assessment outcomes
• submitting different data to that agreed during local authority moderation
• submitting pupils’ work as independent even though it has been heavily supported by an adult, as evidence to justify teacher assessment judgements (scaffolding evidence)
• over-aiding or incorrectly marking tests and using the results as evidence towards teacher assessment judgements
• incorrect or invalid writing evidence

Sources of maladministration allegations

STA receives allegations of maladministration from various sources, including:

• members of the public, including parents
• school staff and governors
• secondary schools
• academy sponsor staff
• local authority staff
• local authorities who conducted KS2 or phonics screening check monitoring visits
• markers of the KS2 tests
• external organisations, such as Ofsted or Ofqual

Roles and responsibilities

Standards and Testing Agency

STA’s role is to safeguard the integrity of the assessments and results data and does not apportion blame for any maladministration. Any subsequent disciplinary proceedings are the decision and responsibility of the school’s accountable body, which may make a referral to the Teaching Regulation Agency.

STA will allocate a case manager to each case of alleged maladministration. This is to ensure all investigations are conducted rigorously, fairly and without bias.

The case manager is responsible for:

• overseeing the investigation
• completing a script review of the relevant test papers, where appropriate
• reviewing access arrangement applications and their outcome, where appropriate
• providing written communications about the outcome of the investigation, where appropriate, to schools, their local authority and accountable body

Local authorities

STA works closely with local authorities during maladministration investigations. When required, STA will ask local authorities to visit schools to gather information as part of an investigation. Local authority staff conducting these visits must be familiar with the maladministration investigation visits guidance and details of the particular allegation of maladministration, provided by STA, before they carry out school visits.

Local authorities are also responsible for producing a report, detailing the information and evidence gathered during the visit, and providing this to STA and the school.

STA, in conjunction with local authorities, is responsible for deciding whether pupils’ results were compromised due to maladministration.

Ofsted

STA shares high level information on ongoing maladministration investigations with Ofsted. This includes the DfE number, school name, key stage, assessment, allegation type, and outcome category once available. STA shares this information to avoid school inspections being scheduled during an investigation. Details of the investigation itself (including documents, reports, or conversations) are not shared. On occasions where intentional over-aiding across whole cohorts and subjects is found, the information provided by STA may form part of Ofsted’s discussions if a school already had an inspection visit scheduled.

Logging and initial processing of allegations

You should report any allegations of maladministration, by emailing [email protected] or by contacting the national curriculum assessments helpline on 0300 303 3013.

If a school is reporting a case of a pupil cheating in an end of KS2 test, they can alternatively use the ‘Notification of pupil cheating’ form on the Primary Assessment Gateway (PAG).

STA logs all allegations of maladministration. Anyone reporting an allegation should provide as much detail as possible so that STA can make an informed decision about whether an investigation is required.

The person making an allegation has the option to remain anonymous. All information collected will be processed and retained in accordance with the:

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

STA will not keep the person making the allegation informed of the progress or outcome of an investigation.

After receiving an allegation, STA considers the details and takes one of the following 3 decisions and subsequent actions:

1 Maladministration has not occurred

STA will close the case. If a school is unaware of the allegation, for example if the allegation arose from a parent or an anonymous source, and nothing has been found or the allegation is incorrect, the school will not be informed. This may happen, for example, if an individual reports an additional time allegation to STA and the school has an approved additional time application.

2 Maladministration has occurred but there is no impact on the accuracy of pupils’ assessments

STA may decide that minor maladministration has occurred, but it has not affected the accuracy of pupils’ results. If this is the case, STA will not change or annul the school’s assessment outcomes.

Minor maladministration may happen if, for example, room displays were not covered correctly but they did not give an advantage to the pupils sitting the assessment. It may also happen if the wrong test pack was opened but immediately resealed.

Where applicable, STA will write to the school informing them of this decision and suggest actions for the school to take to ensure similar minor maladministration does not occur again.

3 Further investigation required

STA may decide to conduct a further investigation. The activities which can form part of an investigation are described in the ‘investigating allegations’ section. A school’s results may be withheld pending the outcome of the investigation. A pupil’s results may be partially or fully annulled after return of results.

Investigating allegations

In most cases, to inform KS2 investigations, STA can review scanned and hard copy test scripts, access arrangement applications and notifications, if relevant to the nature of the allegation.

To avoid being subject to allegations of access arrangements maladministration, schools should ensure that the process to scribe or transcribe pupil’s work is completed correctly, as per section 3 of the KS2 access arrangements guidance.

STA may review MTC Service data to investigate allegations concerning the MTC - for example, STA can identify the time and date checks were taken, the number of devices used, and access arrangements enabled and used.

For the RBA, STA may use the findings from monitoring visit reports conducted by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) - for example, where there are allegations of administrators not following the guidance, or concerns raised from anonymous sources.

For the phonics screening check, STA may work with schools and local authorities to confirm if results for individual pupils or full cohorts are valid.

For teacher assessment, STA may use the findings from moderation visits conducted by local authorities - for example, where agreement on judgements of pupil standards cannot be reached, or concerns from anonymous sources.

Discussion with a school

STA is often able to resolve an allegation through discussion with the school. STA will contact the headteacher of the school and keep records of all discussions. These discussions allow the headteacher to answer queries to help STA’s case manager understand what may or may not have happened. In all cases, STA will contact the headteacher and ask for their contribution before considering an annulment of results.

The KS2 ARA states that the headteacher is responsible for ensuring check and test administration requirements are implemented in their school. STA will therefore liaise directly with the headteacher during an investigation and not, for example, with a school’s accountable body.

School visits

Local authority staff may visit a school as part of an investigation. The headteacher should inform the school’s accountable body, where applicable, if they are notified of a school visit. STA uses these visits to gather information about:

• the procedures in place to keep check and test materials secure
• how the checks or tests were administered
• the measures the school put in place to ensure their teacher assessment data is accurate

If the school does not already know the nature of the allegation, the lead interviewer will confirm this at the start of the visit.

After the visit, the lead interviewer will write a report of their findings for STA. STA will provide the school with a copy of the report, but any personal or identifying information will be redacted. STA will then give the school the opportunity to provide a written response to the report.

Local authorities carrying out visits on STA’s behalf must refer to the maladministration investigation visits guidance.

Investigation timing

STA aims to complete investigations in a timely manner. The start time and length of an investigation varies and depends on:

• the nature of the allegation
• the assessment type
• the complexity of the case
• the availability of information relevant to a case
• when and how the allegation was reported

STA completes maladministration investigations for all assessments throughout the year.

Representations provided by schools under investigation

During an investigation, if STA’s case manager considers there may have been maladministration and there is doubt over the accuracy or correctness of pupils’ results or teacher assessment, they will notify the headteacher when they provide their findings.

The headteacher will then have an opportunity to respond with any further information for STA to consider as part of the investigation, known as representations.

Representations will be considered by STA’s senior decision maker, who will be independent of the investigation, senior to the case manager and authorised to make the final decision.

STA will use a decision meeting to determine what actions are required. At the meeting, the case manager will present all information gathered during the investigation to STA’s senior decision maker, including:

• the case managers findings and the headteacher’s response to these findings (their representation)
• information from RBA monitoring visits, where applicable
• information from phonics screening check monitoring visits, where applicable
• MTC data from school check administration, where applicable
• information from KS2 monitoring visits, where applicable
• outcomes from test script reviews, where applicable

The case manager will make a recommendation to STA’s senior decision maker at the decision meeting. The senior decision maker will then make the final decision, including whether to annul or amend pupils’ test results or teacher assessments.

Investigation outcomes

When there is doubt about the accuracy of pupils’ results, STA can make the following decisions for individual pupils, a partial cohort or the whole cohort for the relevant year group:

Assessment	Potential decisions
RBA	Remove the data. It can not be used to contribute to the final progress measure.
Phonics screening check	Annul the outcome. Pupils in year 1 will have the opportunity to take the check again the following year. Pupils in year 2 will not be able to re-take the check in future years.
MTC	Annul the whole check.
KS2 tests	Annul KS2 test results.
KS2 teacher assessment	Amend teacher assessment judgements.

Assessment	Minor maladministration
RBA	Email to close, citing near miss and actions to take, but no impact on pupil data.
Phonics screening check	Email to close, citing near miss and actions to take, but no impact on pupil data.
MTC	Email to close. Affected pupils can re-take check.
KS2 tests	Email to close, citing near miss and actions to take, but no impact on pupil data.
KS2 teacher assessment	Email to close, citing near miss and actions to take, but no impact on pupil data.

Any decision to annul or amend pupils’ results is final and there is no right of appeal. Once STA has made a decision, they will notify the school of the decision and follow up with a letter explaining the decision and what actions, if any, the school needs to take. If appropriate, and not in cases of minor maladministration, STA will also send a copy of the letter to the school’s accountable body and the relevant local authority.

Further actions and investigations

The annulment of RBA data and KS2 test results means that the data will not be used for progress measures. For a component of a KS2 test, such as mathematics Paper 2, this means the pupil will not receive an overall scaled score for the subject. If a pupil does not receive an overall test result for the subject, then KS2 teacher assessment results should be reported to parents instead to support the pupil’s transition into secondary school.

It is the school’s responsibility to report any annulments or amendments of pupils’ results to parents for all checks and assessments.

The term ‘parent’ is used in this document as defined in section 576 of the Education Act 1996 as:

• parents of a child
• any person who is not a parent of a child but who has parental responsibility for the child
• any person who has care of the child

The school’s accountable body is responsible for carrying out any further investigation and should consider referrals to the Teaching Regulation Agency where appropriate.

Further information

If you have any further questions, want advice or need to report allegations of maladministration, please contact STA:

Maladministration team

Email [email protected]

National curriculum assessments helpline

Email [email protected]

Call 0300 303 3013