Assessment

Purpose of assessment

Assessment lets teachers see what progress your child is making and provides teachers with information which assists them to plan how to help pupils make further progress.

Assessment also enables schools to report information to you as a parent, as well as information to help older children make choices about the examination courses they will follow and the qualifications and careers they will seek.

Assessment also helps schools to set targets for the future and to measure their performance. This information also lets government monitor the performance of the schools’ system generally.

Key Stage assessment - Levels of Progression

Literacy and numeracy are at the heart of the statutory curriculum. The importance of these skills is emphasised through the cross-curricular skills of Communication and Using mathematics, which were introduced during the 2012/13 school year. A third cross-curricular skill, Using ICT, was introduced in the 2016/17 school year.

These cross-curricular skills are assessed using Levels of Progression (LoP) which focus on skills as well as knowledge. Pupils are assessed using the LoP at three stages in their school career. For primary school pupils this is at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 4) and at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 7). For post-primary pupils, this is at the end of Key Stage 3 (Year 10).

The LoP provide clear information for teachers, parents and young people themselves on the progress pupils are making in developing their literacy, numeracy and ICT skills. The LoP set out, in the form of “can do” statements, the sorts of skills that pupils should be expected to be able to demonstrate if they are to build the communication, numeracy and ICT skills needed to function effectively in life and in the world of work.

The Department of Education has agreed the levels which we expect most children and young people to be able to reach in the cross-curricular skills. The expected levels at each key stage are:

Key Stage 1 – level 2
Key Stage 2 – level 4
Key Stage 3 – level 5

Review of statutory Key Stage assessment

As set out in TransformED NI, a strategy for educational excellence in Northern Ireland, the Department is currently progressing a review of statutory Key Stage assessment.

The review will aim to develop a new system of attainment measures which set high standards and clearly defined learning outcomes for all pupils throughout both primary school and Key Stage 3.

Whilst this review is carried out, it is important to have consistent and reliable interim arrangements, in particular an accurate picture of how our pupils are performing in literacy and numeracy post COVID. Therefore, the interim arrangements outlined below will remain in place for three years from 2025-26 until the 2027-2028 academic year.

Statutory Key Stage Assessment Arrangements 2025-26 Onwards

System-level sample assessments are large-scale evaluations of student performance conducted at the national level. These assessments are designed to measure the effectiveness of education systems without evaluating individual students or schools directly.

From the 2025-26 academic year, there will be a system level check in literacy and numeracy via written assessments designed, administered and marked by CCEA. The assessments will be taken by a representative sample of pupils in their final year of Key Stages 1, 2 and 3. Pupils will sit the first assessments in early March 2026.

Outcomes will not be used for individual school performance measurement nor published at pupil or school level.

This approach is designed to provide a clear, evidence-based understanding of how well our pupils are developing in literacy and numeracy.

The key purpose of the assessments is to measure national educational performance. They will allow the Department to identify trends, strengths and areas for improvement within our education system.

Further information on assessment at the end of key stages one and two (external link opens in a new window / tab) can be found on the Northern Ireland curriculum website.

Further information on assessment at the end of key stage three(external link opens in a new window / tab) can be found on the Northern Ireland curriculum website.

• Letter to Schools - Statutory Assessment Arrangements for 2024/25
• Letter to schools - Statutory Assessment Arrangements for 2025/26 to 2027/28

A letter issued to all primary schools on 31 May 2013 outlining some of the features of the operation of the common transfer file (CTF) in relation to the transfer of assessment data.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Report

A report by the OECD into Northern Ireland’s education system was published on 10 December 2013.

The review, which focused on how assessment and evaluation systems could deliver improvements for pupils, was carried out in late February and early March 2013 by independent experts from other OECD countries.

• OECD reviews of evaluation and assessment in education Northern Ireland and United Kingdom
• OECD country background report Northern Ireland