Headteachers have been put under “unnecessary pressure” after pupils’ scores were put in the wrong prior attainment groups in provisional key stage 2 data. Primary schools take part in a checking exercise every September to make sure the DfE has the correct KS2 performance measures data before the final version is published in December. But the DfE sent a letter apologising to headteachers on Tuesday, after incorrectly assigning some pupils’ prior attainment scores to the wrong category. Pupils’ average scores for KS1 SATs are categorised into three prior attainment groups – high, middle and low. Their scores are compared to their KS2 SATs results, in order to show how much progress they have made between KS1 and KS2. But the error meant that pupils with 8 as their KS1 average point score were mistakenly allocated to the ‘high’ prior attainment group, when they should have been assigned to the ‘middle’ group. This could make it look like schools have made less progress, because the pupil’s starting point at KS1 is recorded as being higher than it was. The DfE said this would only impact schools’ low, middle and high attainment breakdowns, not pupil and school-level progress scores. They also assured schools that the revised data published in December would be correct. Ofsted normally uses this provisional data in reports provided to inspectors. But the watchdog confirmed the affected data will not be used for inspection purposes after the DfE told them about the error. Measures ‘really important’ Teachers warne the lack of accurate provisional data made it harder for schools to prove to dOfsted that they are hitting the expected standard. This makes it particularly difficult for schools whose pupils have lower starting points to show they are doing better than expected. Jamie Barry, headteacher of Yew Tree Primary School, said: “If you’re due [an] Ofsted [inspection] this term and your attainment is challenging, then your progress measures are really important. “So it’s either a lot of work for schools to work it out manually, or they’ve got to try and find another way to exemplify their achievement outcomes. “Until schools start getting some data behind them, it’s going to be hard.” Ofsted has introduced a ‘similar schools’ model from September which means inspectors will be able to examine schools’ performance compared to other schools in similar contexts, as well as national benchmarks. But Barry points out that is not yet clear how much this model will affect inspection outcomes. ‘Improvement purposes’ Sarah Hannafin, head of policy at school leaders’ union NAHT, said schools “will have likely been planning to use this unvalidated data for improvement purposes and in discussions with governors among other things”. She added that schools had flagged the error to them, and that “such a significant error is deeply unhelpful and causes additional stress and workload for schools”. “This does nothing to restore trust in key stage 2 SATs following the debacle of the delay to results over the summer.” Sarah Hannafin Barry said that error, combined with the “sheer scale of transformation” such as the curriculum review and announcements made over the summer was “putting heads under unnecessary pressure”. He also said that the issues were “a bit shambolic” on top of the delay with the SATs results being published. SATs results were delayed by nine days after markers experienced technical glitches with the online marking system. As a result, schools were given more time to submit reviews of marking or clerical errors, with the deadline closing on 7 September. The outcome of any marking reviews will come out on 30 September. RBA to replace KS1 tests This is the last year KS1 SATs will be used as part of the progress measure, after they became non-statutory in September 2023. In the 2027-28 academic year, the DfE will use the reception baseline assessment (RBA) to create school-level progress measures for primary schools. The RBA became compulsory in 2021, which means first cohort of pupils to sit the assessment will enter year 6 in September 2027. It is not yet clear how the reception baseline assessment will be compared against KS2 SATs. Schools get a set of narrative statements on how each child performed in the assessment, but the DfE will not share any numerical scores, and they will not be published at school, pupil or national level. Schools were also unable to use KS1 SATs results as part of the progress measure for the previous two years, because those current cohort of Year 6 pupils had not sat them due to the pandemic. The portal for the checking exercise will close on 18 September at 5pm.