The Education (School Performance Information) (England) Regulations 1994

PART I GENERAL

Citation, commencement and application

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Education (School Performance Information) (England) Regulations 1994 and shall come into force on 21st June 1994.

(2) These Regulations apply in relation to schools in England.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations, except where the context otherwise requires—

“the 1988 Act” means the Education Reform Act 1988;

“assessment” in relation to a maintained school means assessment pursuant to orders made under section 4 of the 1988 Act(1) and “level” shall be construed in accordance with the provisions of such orders and in relation to a CTC means assessment pursuant to an agreement with the Secretary of State under section 105 of the 1988 Act;

“assessment term” means the term in which assessment is completed;

“attainment targets” has the meaning given by section 2 of the 1988 Act;

“authority”, in relation to a school maintained by a local education authority, means that authority and, in relation to a grant-maintained or grant-maintained special school, a non-maintained special school or an independent school, means the authority in whose area the school is situated;

“CTC” means city technology college and city college for the technology of the arts;

“GCE `A' level examinations” and “GCE `AS' examinations” mean General Certificate of Education advanced level and advanced supplementary examinations respectively;

“GCSE” means General Certificate of Secondary Education;

“lesson time” means time during which pupils are normally required to attend lessons or engage in private study supervised by a teacher during school hours;

“maintained school” means—

(a)

any county or voluntary school;

(b)

any special school maintained by an authority which is not established in a hospital;

(c)

any grant-maintained school or grant-maintained special school which is not established in a hospital

but excludes any nursery school;

“middle deemed secondary school” means a middle school deemed to be a secondary school by virtue of the Education (Middle Schools) Regulations 1980(2);

“non-maintained special school” means a special school which is not maintained by an authority nor a grant-maintained special school;

“public examination” means a public examination which is for the time being prescribed by regulations made under section 106 of the 1988 Act(3);

“reporting school year” means the school year immediately preceding the school year in which information provided to the Secretary of State under these Regulations is to be published by him;

“special class” means a class so designated by the authority (in the case of a school maintained by the authority), governing body (in the case of a grant-maintained or grant-maintained special school) or proprietor (in the case of a non-maintained special school or an independent school), in which all or the majority of pupils have special educational needs;

“special school” has the meaning assigned to it by section 182(1) of the Education Act 1993(4);

“unauthorised absence” means an occasion on which a pupil is recorded as absent without authority pursuant to the Pupils' Registration Regulations 1956(5) and “authorised absence” shall be construed accordingly; and

“unit”, in relation to a vocational qualification, means a module or part of a course leading to that qualification which, when successfully completed, can be counted together with other modules or parts towards obtaining that qualification.

(2) In these Regulations, except where the context otherwise requires—

(a) references to pupils of a particular age are to pupils who attained that age during the period of twelve months ending on the 31st August immediately preceding the commencement of the reporting school year and who were registered pupils at the school on the third Thursday in January in the reporting school year;

(b) references to examinations for which pupils at the school were entered include examinations for which they were entered otherwise than in pursuance of section 117 of the 1988 Act;

(c) references to key stages are references to the periods set out in section 3(3) of the 1988 Act; and

(d) references to a school maintained by an authority do not include such a school which is established in a hospital.

(3) Particulars to which these Regulations apply may be made available in the form of data from which the particulars are capable of being extracted by computer.

(4) For the purposes of these Regulations any examination for the GCSE for which a pupil aged 15 was entered during a previous school year shall be treated as such an examination for which the pupil was entered during the reporting school year.

(5) Information relating to authorised or unauthorised absences shall not include any information relating to any date after 27th May in the reporting school year.

(6) In calculating the number of `A' levels a pupil is entered for, one `AS' shall be treated as the equivalent of half an `A' level.

(7) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, any reference to a numbered regulation is a reference to the regulation bearing that number in these Regulations, any reference to a numbered paragraph is to the paragraph of that regulation bearing that number, and any reference to a Schedule is to a Schedule to these Regulations.

Qualification of duties

3.  The duties imposed on governing bodies, authorities and proprietors by virtue of these Regulations in respect of provision or publication of information apply only to the extent that that information is available to the governing body, authority or proprietor before the latest occasion on which the information is required to be provided or published, as the case may be.

Revocation

4.  The Education (School Performance Information) (England) (No. 2) Regulations 1993(6) are revoked.

PART II PROVISION OF INFORMATION BY HEAD TEACHER

Provision of information by head teacher to governing body

5.  The head teacher of every maintained school shall each year make available to the governing body information about the matters mentioned in the Schedules, for the purpose of enabling the governing body to comply with their obligations under these Regulations.

PART II I PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE

Provision of assessment results to the Secretary of State

6.—(1) The governing body of every school maintained by an authority which, in theassessment term of the reporting school year, has registered pupils who are at or near the end of the final year of the first key stage, shall, by the end of that term submit to the authority the information relating to assessment referred to in Part I of Schedule 1.

(2) Every authority which, pursuant to paragraph (1), receives information from schools which it maintains shall, on or before 31st July, submit to the Secretary of State that information for each such school.

(3) The governing body of every grant-maintained or grant-maintained special school (other than one which is established in a hospital) which, in the assessment term of the reporting school year, has registered pupils who are at or near the end of the final year of the first key stage, shall, on or before 15th July, submit to the Secretary of State the information relating to assessment referred to in Part I of Schedule 1.

(4) The governing body of every maintained school and the proprietor of every CTC which, in the assessment term of the reporting school year, has registered pupils who are at or near the end of the final year of the third key stage, or in the case of a CTC has registered pupils aged 14, shall, by 15th September, submit to the Secretary of State the information relating to assessment referred to in Part II of Schedule 1.

Provision of results of school examinations and of courses leading towards vocational qualifcations to the Secretary of State

7.  The governing body of every maintained school and the proprietor of every non-maintained special school or independent school with pupils aged 15, 16, 17 or 18 shall, within two weeks of receiving a written request from the Secretary of State, make available to him such particulars relating to public examinations and courses leading to vocational qualifications or units for which registered pupils at the school were entered, and such other information as are referred to—

(a) in the case of a school providing information in respect of pupils aged 15, in Part I of Schedule 2;

(b) in the case of a school providing information in respect of pupils aged 16, 17 or 18, in Part II of Schedule 2.

Provision of information about authorised and unauthorised absence to the Secretary of State

8.—(1) Subject to paragraph (3), the governing body of a school maintained by an authority shall make available to that authority information for the reporting school year about the matters mentioned in Schedule 3, for the purpose of enabling the authority to comply with its obligations under paragraph (2).

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), every authority, in respect of each school which it maintains, the governing body of every grant-maintained and grant-maintained special school and the proprietor of every independent school and non-maintained special school shall, within two weeks of receiving a written request from the Secretary of State, provide him with information for the reporting school year about the matters mentioned in Schedule 3.

(3) This regulation does not apply in respect of a school providing education for boarding pupils only.

Provision of information about amount of lesson time to the Secretary of State

9.—(1) The governing body of every school maintained by an authority—

(a) which is not a special school and has registered pupils in the fourth key stage; or

(b) which is a special school and has registered pupils aged 15

shall make available to that authority the information relating to lesson time referred to in Schedule 4 for the purpose of enabling that authority to comply with its obligations under paragraph (2).

(2) The relevant body shall, within two weeks of receiving a written request from the Secretary of State, provide him with information in respect of relevant pupils for the reporting school year about the matters mentioned in Schedule 4.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2) the relevant body is—

(a) in the case of a school maintained by an authority which is not a special school and has registered pupils in the fourth key stage, the authority;

(b) in the case of a grant-maintained school which has registered pupils in the fourth key stage, the governing body;

(c) in the case of an independent school which has registered pupils aged 15, the proprietor;

(d) in the case of a special school maintained by an authority which has registered pupils aged 15, the authority;

(e) in the case of a grant-maintained special school which has registered pupils aged 15, the governing body;

(f) in the case of a non-maintained special school which has registered pupils aged 15, the proprietor.

(4) For the purposes of paragraph (2), relevant pupils are registered pupils in the fourth key stage, or, in the case of a special school or an independent school, registered pupils aged 15.

Provision of general information to the Secretary of State

10.  The governing body of every maintained secondary school, (except a middle deemed secondary school) and the proprietor of every independent and non-maintained special school with pupils aged 15 shall, within two weeks of receiving a written request from the Secretary of State, provide him with the general information about the school for the reporting school year referred to in Schedule 5.

PART IV PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION

Publication of local and national performance information about secondary schools by governing bodies

11.—(1) The governing body of every maintained secondary school (except a middle deemed secondary school) shall provide the information referred to in paragraph (2) in the form and manner and to the persons specified in paragraph (3).

(2) That information is information for the reporting school year provided to the Secretary of State under these Regulations or (in the case of average and percentage figures) calculated by him from such information and published by him under section 16(6) of the Education (Schools) Act 1992 consisting of—

(a) the results in public examinations and courses leading to vocational qualifications or units achieved by pupils at secondary schools in the area of the relevant authority;

(b) the rates of authorised and unauthorised absence of pupils at secondary schools in the area of the relevant authority;

(c) the amount of lesson time provided for pupils during a normal school week at secondary schools in the area of the relevant authority;

(d) the information referred to in Schedule 5 relating to secondary schools in the area of the relevant authority;

(e) the averages for pupils at secondary schools in the area of the relevant authority and in England of—

(i) their results in public examinations and courses leading to vocational qualifications or units; and

(ii) their rates of authorised and unauthorised absence; and

(f) the average of the amount of lesson time provided for pupils during a normal school week in secondary schools in the area of the relevant authority and in England.

(3) The information shall be provided by copies of the document in which the information was published by the Secretary of State being made available at the school for reference by parents and other persons.

(4) The governing body of every maintained primary school providing education for pupils in the final year of the second key stage and every maintained middle deemed secondary school shall provide the information referred to in paragraph (2) by distributing the document without charge to parents of pupils who are in their final year at the school before transfer to a secondary school and by making copies of the document available at the school for reference by parents and other persons.