The Education (School Performance Information) (England) Regulations 1993

PART I GENERAL

Citation, commencement and application

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Education (School Performance Information) (England) Regulations 1993 and shall come into force on 9th July 1993.

(2) These Regulations apply in relation to schools in England.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations, except where the context otherwise requires—

“the 1988 Act” means the Education Reform Act 1988;

“assessment” means assessment pursuant to orders made under section 4 of the 1988 Act(1) and “level” shall be construed in accordance with the provisions of such orders;

“attainment targets” have the meaning given by section 2 of the 1988 Act;

“authority”, in relation to a school maintained by a local education authority, means that authority and, in relation to a grant-maintained school, a non-maintained special school or an independent school, means the authority in whose area the school is situated;

“CTC” means city technology college and city college for the technology of the arts;

“GCE ‘A’ level examinations” and “GCE ‘AS’ examinations” mean General Certificate of Education advanced level and advanced supplementary examinations respectively;

“GCSE” means General Certificate of Secondary Education;

“maintained school” means—

(a)

any county or voluntary school;

(b)

any maintained special school which is not established in a hospital;

(c)

any grant-maintained school

but excludes nursery schools;

“prescribed public examination” means a public examination which is for the time being prescribed by regulations made under section 106 of the 1988 Act(2);

“previous school year” means a school year preceding the reporting school year;

“reporting school year” means the school year immediately preceding the school year in which information provided to the Secretary of State under these Regulations is to be published by him;

“special class” means a class so designated by the authority (in the case of a school maintained by the authority), governing body (in the case of a grant-maintained school) or proprietor (in the case of a non-maintained special school or an independent school), in which all or the majority of pupils have special educational needs;

“summer term” means the term in which assessment takes place;

“unauthorised absence” means an occasion on which a pupil is recorded as absent without authority pursuant to the Pupils' Registration Regulations 1956(3);

“unit”, in relation to a vocational qualification, means a module or part of a course leading to that qualification which, when successfully completed, can be counted together with other modules or parts towards obtaining that qualification.

(2) In these Regulations, except where the context otherwise requires—

(a) references to pupils of a particular age are to pupils who attained that age during the period of twelve months ending on the 31st August immediately preceding the commencement of the reporting school year and who were registered pupils at the school on the third Thursday in January in the reporting school year;

(b) references to examinations for which pupils at the school were entered include examinations for which they were entered otherwise than in pursuance of section 117 of the 1988 Act;

(c) references to key stages are references to the periods set out in section 3(3) of the 1988 Act.

(3) Particulars to which these Regulations apply may be made available in the form of data from which the particulars are capable of being extracted by computer.

(4) For the purposes of these Regulations any examination for the GCSE for which a pupil aged 15 was entered during a previous school year shall be treated as such an examination for which the pupil was entered during the reporting school year.

(5) Information relating to unauthorised absences for any term which begins before 28th May and finishes after that date shall not include any information relating to any date after 28th May.

(6) In calculating the number of ‘A’ levels a pupil is entered for, one ‘AS’ shall be treated as the equivalent of half an ‘A’ level.

(7) For the purpose of determining point scores in GCE ‘A’ level and GCE ‘AS’ examinations the following grades of achievement equate to the following points, namely:

• GCE ‘A’ level: grade A = 10 points; grade B = 8 points; grade C = 6 points;grade D = 4 points; and grade E = 2 points.

• GCE ‘AS’: grade A = 5 points; grade B = 4 points; grade C = 3 points; grade D = 2 points; and grade E = 1 point.

(8) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, any reference to a numbered regulation is a reference to the regulation bearing that number in these Regulations, any reference to a numbered paragraph is to the paragraph of that regulation bearing that number, any reference in a paragraph to a sub-paragraph is a reference to a sub-paragraph of that paragraph and any reference to a Schedule is to a Schedule to these Regulations.

Qualification of duties

3.  The duties imposed on governors and local education authorities by virtue of these Regulations in respect of provision or publication of information apply only to the extent that that information is available to the governors or the authority before the latest occasion on which the information is required to be provided or published, as the case may be.

Revocation

4.  The Education (School Performance Information) (England) Regulations 1992(4) are revoked.

PART II PROVISION OF INFORMATION BY HEAD TEACHER

Provision of information by head teacher to governing body

5.  The head teacher of every maintained school shall each year make available to the governors information about the matters mentioned in the Schedules, for the purpose of enabling the governors to comply with their obligations under these Regulations.

PART III PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE

Provision of assessment results to the Secretary of State

6.—(1) The governing body of every school maintained by an authority which, in the summer term of the reporting school year, has registered pupils who are at or near the end of the final year of the first key stage, shall, by the end of that term, submit to the authority the information relating to assessment referred to in Part I of Schedule 1.

(2) Every authority which, pursuant to paragraph (1), receives information from schools which it maintains shall, on or before 31st July, submit to the Secretary of State that information for each such school.

(3) The governing body of every grant-maintained school which, in the summer term of the reporting school year, has registered pupils who are at or near the end of the final year of the first key stage, shall, on or before 31st July, submit to the Secretary of State the information relating to assessment referred to in Part I of Schedule 1.

(4) The governing body of every maintained school and the proprietor of every CTC which, in the summer term of the reporting school year, has registered pupils who are at or near the end of the final year of the third key stage, shall, by 15th September, submit to the Secretary of State the information derived from the statutory assessments referred to in Part II of Schedule 1.

Provision of results of school examinations and of courses leading towards vocational qualifications to the Secretary of State

7.  The governing body of every maintained school and the proprietor of every non-maintained special school or independent school with pupils aged 15, 16, 17 or 18 shall, within two weeks of receiving a written request from the Secretary of State, make available to him such particulars relating to public examinations and courses leading to vocational qualifications or units for which registered pupils at the school were entered during the reporting school year, and such other information as are referred to—

(a) in the case of a school providing information in respect of pupils aged 15, inPart I of Schedule 2;

(b) in the case of a school providing information in respect of pupils aged 16, 17 or 18, in Part II of Schedule 2.

Provision of information about unauthorised absence to the Secretary of State

8.—(1) Subject to paragraph (3), the governing body of a school maintained by an authority shall make available to that authority information for the reporting school year about the matters mentioned in Schedule 3, for the purpose of enabling the authority to comply with its obligations under paragraph (2).

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), every authority, in respect of each school which it maintains, the governing body of every grant-maintained school and the proprietor of every independent school and non-maintained special school shall, within two weeks of receiving a written request from the Secretary of State, provide him with information for the reporting school year about the matters mentioned in Schedule 3.

(3) This regulation does not apply in respect of schools providing education for boarding pupils only.

PART IV PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION

Publication of local and national performance information about secondary schools by governing bodies

9.—(1) The governing body of every maintained secondary school and every maintained middle school with pupils in the third key stage shall provide the information referred to in paragraph (2) in the form and manner and to the persons specified in paragraph (3).

(2) The information referred to in paragraph (1) is information about the results in public examinations and courses leading to vocational qualifications or units achieved by pupils at secondary schools, and the results of assessments at the end of the third key stage and the rates of unauthorised absence of pupils at secondary or middle schools, in the area of the relevant authority and in England in the reporting school year, and the other information relating to those schools contained in a document provided to the governing body by the Secretary of State.

(3) The information shall be provided by copies of the document referred to in paragraph (2) being made available at the school for reference by parents and other persons.

(4) The governing body of every maintained primary school providing education for pupils in the final year of the second key stage and every maintained school deemed to be a secondary school by virtue of the Education (Middle Schools) Regulations 1980(5) shall provide the information referred to in paragraph (2) by distributing the document without charge to parents of pupils who are in their final year at the school before transfer to a school with an older age range and by making copies of the document available at the school for reference by parents and other persons.

Publication of local and national performance information about primary schools by governing bodies and by local education authorities

10.—(1) The governing body of every maintained primary school and maintained middle school (except maintained middle schools with pupils in the third key stage) shall provide the information referred to in paragraph (2) in the form and manner and to the persons specified in paragraph (3).

(2) The information referred to in paragraph (1) is information about the results of assessment of pupils in the first key stage and the rates of unauthorised absence of pupils from primary schools in the area of the relevant authority and in England in the reporting school year, and the other information relating to those schools contained in a document provided to the governing body by the Secretary of State.

(3) The information shall be provided by copies of the document referred to in paragraph (2) being made available at the school for reference by parents and other persons.

(4) The relevant authority shall publish the information referred to in paragraph (2) by making copies of the document referred to in that paragraph available, until the publication of the next such document, for distribution without charge to parents and others at public libraries in its area.

Publication of local and national performance information relating to pupils aged 16, 17 and 18 by governing bodies

11.—(1) The governing body of every maintained school with pupils in the final year of the fourth key stage shall provide the information referred to in paragraph (2) in the form and manner and to the persons specified in paragraph (3).

(2) The information referred to in paragraph (1) is information about the results in public examinations, courses of study for vocational qualifications and in the International Baccalaureate Diploma undertaken by pupils aged 16, 17 and 18 in schools and institutions within the further education sector in the area of the relevant authority and in England in the reporting school year, and the other information relating to those schools and institutions contained in a document provided to the governing body by the Secretary of State.

(3) The information shall be provided—

(a) by copies of the document referred to in paragraph (2) being made available at the school for reference by parents and other persons;

(b) by the governing bodies of maintained secondary schools with pupils in the final year of the fourth key stage distributing copies of the document without charge to the parents of those pupils.