Givan announces new Key Stage assessments in Northern Ireland
Date published:
Education Minister, Paul Givan, has announced arrangements for new Key Stage assessments, for the three-year period from the 2025-26 academic year.
The new system-level sample assessments will evaluate the literacy and numeracy of pupils at the end of Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 and will be introduced and delivered by the Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA).
The assessments will provide insights into learning outcomes across the education system and will play a vital role in shaping educational policies and interventions. The assessments will be taken by a sample of pupils and will be used to identify national trends in performance.
Paul Givan said:
“Literacy and numeracy are the essential foundation of all education. Northern Ireland is currently without any measures of how our system is performing in both these areas at primary school and Key Stage 3. This is not acceptable and makes us an outlier internationally in being without basic performance data.
“This new approach is designed to provide a clear, evidence-based understanding of how well our pupils are developing essential knowledge and skills in reading, writing and mathematics and will provide an authoritative picture on our national educational performance. The findings from the assessments will support curriculum development and teacher professional learning.”
System-level sample assessments are used across many high-performing education systems, including Canada, USA, Finland, Japan and Singapore.
The Minister continued:
“These new arrangements have been developed in consultation with CCEA and key stakeholders, including school leaders.
“My Department and CCEA will work closely with schools and stakeholders to ensure the smooth implementation of the new arrangements. Further details, including timelines and guidance for schools will be provided in the coming months.”
CCEA Chief Executive, Gerry Campbell said:
“In response to the Department of Education's requirement to introduce interim arrangements to assess system-wide performance in literacy and numeracy, CCEA will create and administer the new written assessments, effective from the 2025-2026 academic year.
“This approach aims to minimise the workload on schools and provide a clear, evidence-based understanding of how well pupils are developing essential skills in reading, writing and mathematics.”
A representative sample of schools will participate in the assessments annually and outcomes will not be published at school or pupil level.
Notes to editors:
- The new arrangements will be in place from the 2025-26 academic year, with the first assessments in March 2026. There will be a system level check in literacy and numeracy via written assessments designed and administered by CCEA.
- CCEA is the statutory body responsible for curriculum, examinations, and assessment in Northern Ireland.
- Key Stage ages are: Key Stage 1 – ages 6-8; Key Stage 2 – ages 8-11; Key Stage 3 – ages 11-14.
- Key Stage assessments is a key commitment within my Department’s Education Strategy, TransformED NI.
- 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. Instead, they gather data from a representative sample of students to draw conclusions about overall educational quality, performance trends and educational policies.
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