The Education (School Performance Information) (Wales) (No. 2) Regulations 1994

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations, made under section 22 of the Education Reform Act 1988 and section 16 of the Education (Schools) Act 1992, apply in relation to schools in Wales. They replace the Education (School Performance Information) (Wales) Regulations 1993 and 1994 (as amended) which are revoked. The Regulations relate to the collection and publication of information about the performance of schools.

Part I of the Regulations contains general provisions.

Part II imposes duties on head teachers to provide information to governing bodies of maintained secondary schools for the purpose of enabling them to comply with their obligations under the Regulations (regulation 6).

Part III imposes duties on governing bodies of maintained secondary schools (including grant-maintained and grant-maintained special schools) and non-maintained special schools and proprietors of independent schools with pupils over the age of eleven to provide the Secretary of State with the information specified in the Schedules in relation to their school (regulations 7 and 8). The information includes, in particular, information relating to public examination entries and results (including GCSEs, CoEs and ‘A’ level and ‘AS’ examinations) achieved by pupils (Schedule 1); vocational qualifications achieved by pupils (Schedule 2); background information about the school (Schedule 3); school attendance information (Schedule 4); and information about the amount of lesson time given at the school (Schedule 5). The requirements to provide information about school attendance, about vocational qualifications achieved by pupils and about lesson time are new.

Part IV of the Regulations requires governing bodies of certain schools to provide information to parents. In the case of every maintained secondary school, the governing body are required to provide the information specified in the Schedules, the averages for pupils at secondary schools in the area of the authority concerned and in Wales of their results in public examinations and their rates of authorised absence and absence (both authorised and unauthorised). The information is to be provided by its being made available at the school (regulation 9). In the case of every maintained secondary school with pupils in the final year in the fourth key stage and every maintained primary school with pupils in the final year of the second key stage, governing bodies must provide the booklet relating to the county which the Secretary of State publishes containing information provided by them under Part III by making the booklet available at the school and distributing copies to parents of the pupils concerned. The local education authority must also make this information available at their libraries for reference by members of the public (regulation 10).

The Regulations make it clear that the same published particulars are not required to be made available to any person on more than one occasion or to any person to whom those particulars have already been made available (regulation 11).