Northern Ireland to review contentious key stage 3 assessments

Education minister Peter Weir says his officials are to take forward an examination of key stage 3 statutory assessment arrangements.

Post-primary schools must assess and report on communication, using mathematics and using ICT. They also should give insight into how well pupils are progressing in thinking skills and personal capabilities.

Exams chiefs say assessment is “the cornerstone of good learning and teaching” and can give a deeper appreciation of what pupils know and understand. However, teachers have been boycotting the assessments for eight years. They maintain they are “ultra-bureaucratic” and get in the way of learning.

In 2018/19, approximately 16 per cent of post-primary schools completed the assessments, down from 32 per cent the previous year. No-one, therefore, has any real idea of how well, or otherwise, secondary pupils are performing at key stage 3.