It shall be the duty of the head teacher to make arrangements for each pupil to whom this article applies in respect of a core subject to be assessed in that subject in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (3).

This article applies to a pupil in respect of a core subject if, in the opinion of his head teacher, his level of attainment in that subject, if he were to be assessed by the administration to him of NC tests in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (3), would be level 3 or higher (in the case of mathematics and science) or level 4 or higher (in the case of English).

Where this article applies to a pupil in respect of a core subject NC tests shall be administered to the pupil in accordance with the provisions of the document in which they are published at the times specified in the relevant NC assessment timetable and as soon as reasonably practicable thereafter the pupil’s responses to the NC tests shall be provided to the external marking agency determined by the Authority and notified by them to the head teacher to be marked.

As soon as reasonably practicable after the pupil’s responses to the NC tests in all the core subjects have been provided by the head teacher to the external marking agency pursuant to paragraph (3), the head teacher shall provide that agency with a statement, signed by himself, confirming that those NC tests were administered in accordance with the provisions of the document in which they are published at the times specified in the relevant NC assessment timetable.

Following the marking of NC tests, the external marking agency shall provide to the head teacher a record of the results consisting of a statement of each level of attainment by the pupil.