Alongside the introduction of a national curriculum in September 2014, the government abolished attainment levels as the main assessment measure in primary schools. Schools have been encouraged to be creative in devising their own assessment procedures.
As part of reforms to the national curriculum, the previous system of ‘levels’ used to report children’s attainment and progress, was removed from September 2014 and will not be replaced. By removing levels, the DFE hopes to allow teachers greater flexibility in the way that they plan and assess pupils’ learning.
The curriculum must include an assessment system which enables schools to check what pupils have learnt and whether they are on track to meet expectations at the end of the key stage, and to report regularly to parents.
Levels will not be updated to reflect the new National Curriculum and will not be used to report the results of National Curriculum tests.