“This is a positive step in the right direction, and although the proposals are far from what should be rolled out on a permanent basis, we welcome the return to some form of meaningful assessment at the end of Key Stages 1, 2 and 3. It is vitally important that we know at system level, school level and pupil level how our young people are performing and the effectiveness of our curriculum. Additionally, these proposals do not create additional workload for our over-stretched teaching staff and leaders, as the assessments will be written and administered by CCEA.
“We look forward to more permanent arrangements being developed and stand ready to feed into this work to ensure we have in place reliable and valid assessments which do not create unnecessary assessment burden for our young people or the system.”