1998 No. 307

EDUCATION

Education (Target-Setting in Schools) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998

Made

Coming into operation

The Department of Education, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by Article 11(1) of the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 19981 and of every other power enabling it in that behalf, and after consulting as required by Article 11(3) of that Order, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation and commencement1

These Regulations may be cited as the Education (Target-Setting in Schools) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998 and shall come into operation on 25th September 1998.

Interpretation2

In these Regulations—

  • “the 1989 Order” means the Education Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 19892;

  • “GCE A level” means General Certificate of Education advanced level;

  • “GCSE” means General Certificate of Secondary Education;

  • “GNVQ” means General National Vocational Qualification;

  • “level of attainment” means a level set out in any document of a kind referred to in Article 7(5) of the 1989 Order the provisions of which have effect, or (as the case may be) have effect as amended, by virtue of any order made under Article 7(1)(a) of that Order;

  • “NVQ” means National Vocational Qualification.

Application3

1

Subject to paragraph (2), these Regulations shall apply to all grant-aided schools.

2

These Regulations shall not apply to—

a

any nursery school;

b

any school attended wholly by pupils up to and including the end of the third year following the lower limit of compulsory school age; or

c

any special school.

Duty to set targets

4

1

The Board of Governors of each grant-aided school to which these Regulations apply, in consultation with the principal of the school, shall set targets for the overall performance of pupils at the school.

2

The targets shall be set in the first term of every school year.

5

The targets to be set in accordance with regulation 4 shall be:

a

in the case of a primary school, in relation to each of the measures of performance specified in Schedule 1; and

b

in the case of a secondary school, in relation to each of the measures of performance specified in Schedule 2.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Education on

C. JendoubiAssistant Secretary

SCHEDULE 1Measures of performance in respect of which targets must be set by the Board of Governors of a primary school

Regulation 5(a)

1

The proportion of pupils which should be achieving the second level of attainment (or above) of the Northern Ireland Curriculum, in English and in mathematics (in the case of an Irish speaking school, in Irish and in mathematics) at the end of Key Stage 1.

2

The proportion of pupils which should be achieving the third level of attainment (or above) of the Northern Ireland Curriculum, in English and in mathematics (in the case of an Irish speaking school, in Irish and in mathematics) at the end of Key Stage 1.

3

The proportion of pupils which should be achieving the fourth level of attainment (or above) of the Northern Ireland Curriculum, in English and in mathematics (in the case of an Irish speaking school, in Irish, in English and in mathematics) at the end of Key Stage 2.

4

The proportion of pupils which should be achieving the fifth level of attainment (or above) of the Northern Ireland Curriculum, in English and in mathematics (in the case of an Irish speaking school, in Irish, in English and in mathematics) at the end of Key Stage 2.

SCHEDULE 2Measures of performance in respect of which targets must be set by the Board of Governors of a secondary school

Regulation 5(b)

1

The proportion of pupils which should be achieving the fifth level of attainment (or above) of the Northern Ireland Curriculum, in English and in mathematics at the end of Key Stage 3.

2

The proportion of pupils which should be achieving the sixth level of attainment (or above) of the Northern Ireland Curriculum, in English and in mathematics at the end of Key Stage 3.

3

In the case of a secondary school which is not a grammar school:

a

the proportion of Year 12 pupils which should be achieving—

i

one or more GCSEs, or an equivalent vocational qualification;

ii

5 or more GCSEs at grades A*-G, or Foundation GNVQ or NVQ level 1;

iii

5 or more GCSEs at grades A*-C, or Intermediate GNVQ or NVQ level 2.

b

the proportion of Year 14 pupils which should be achieving 2 or more GCE A levels at grades A-E or equivalent, or Advanced GNVQ or NVQ level 3.

4

In the case of a grammar school:

a

the proportion of Year 12 pupils which should be achieving 5 or more GCSEs at grades A*-C or Intermediate GNVQ or NVQ level 2.

b

the proportion of Year 14 pupils which should be achieving—

i

2 or more GCE A levels at grades A-E or Advanced GNVQ or NVQ level 3;

ii

3 or more GCE A levels at grades A-C.

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations, made under Article 11(1) of the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1998, place a duty on the Board of Governors of every grant-aided school except:

a

a nursery school;

b

a school attended wholly by pupils in the first three years of compulsory education;

c

a school specially organised to make special provision for pupils with special educational needs

to set targets for the overall performance of pupils at the school.

Regulation 5 prescribes the measures of performance in relation to which targets are to be set. In the case of a primary school the measures relate to the performance of pupils in statutory assessments and are the proportion of pupils at the end of the first key stage achieving Level 2 or above of the Northern Ireland Curriculum and achieving Level 3 or above of the Northern Ireland Curriculum, and the proportion of pupils at the end of the second key stage achieving Level 4 or above of the Northern Ireland Curriculum and Level 5 or above of the Northern Ireland Curriculum (Schedule 1).

In the case of a secondary school the measures relate to performance in statutory assessments and in public examinations. In all secondary schools measures in relation to assessment are the proportion of pupils at the end of the third key stage achieving Level 5 or above of the Northern Ireland Curriculum and achieving Level 6 or above of the Northern Ireland Curriculum.

In relation to examination performance the measures are the proportions of Year 12 pupils in the school which should be achieving specified numbers of GCSEs or equivalent vocational qualifications and the proportions of Year 14 pupils which should be achieving specified numbers of GCE A levels or equivalent vocational qualifications (Schedule 2).