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

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations, made under section 22 of the Education Reform Act 1988 and section 16 of the Education (Schools) Act 1992, apply in relation to schools in England. They replace the Education (School Performance Information) (England) (No. 2) Regulations 1993, which are revoked.

The Regulations relate to the collection and publication of information about the performance of schools.

Part I of the Regulations comprises general provisions only.

Part II imposes duties on head teachers to provide information to governing bodies for the purpose of enabling them to comply with their obligations under these Regulations (regulation 5).

Part III contains detailed provisions relating to the provision of information to the Secretary of State.

The governing bodies of schools maintained by a local education authority with pupils at or near the end of the final year of the first key stage (mostly seven year olds) must provide information about the results of statutory National Curriculum assessments to the authority which then transmits that information to the Secretary of State (regulation 6(1) and (2) and Part I of Schedule 1). Grant-maintained and grant-maintained special schools with pupils in this age group must transmit their results to the Secretary of State directly (regulation 6(3)). The governing bodies of all maintained schools with pupils at or near the end of the final year of the third key stage (mostly fourteen year olds) and proprietors of city technology colleges and city colleges for the technology of the arts with fourteen year old pupils, must provide specified information about their results to the Secretary of State (regulation 6(4) and Part II of Schedule 1). The dates by which all such information must be provided and transmitted are different from those specified in the previous Regulations and the amount of information to be provided has been reduced.

The governing bodies of maintained schools and the proprietors of non-maintained special schools and independent schools with pupils aged 15, 16, 17 or 18 must provide the Secretary of State with specified information about their results. There are changes to the information about vocational qualifications which must be so provided (regulation 7 and Schedule 2).

Local education authorities, the governing bodies of grant-maintained and grant-maintained special schools and the proprietors of independent and non-maintained special schools (not providing education for boarders only) must provide the Secretary of State with information about authorised and unauthorised absence. The requirement relating to authorised absences is new (regulation 8 and Schedule 3). There is a new requirement for local education authorities, the governing bodies of grant-maintained and grant-maintained special schools and the proprietors of independent and non-maintained special schools to provide the Secretary of State with information about the amount of lesson time provided for pupils per week (regulation 9 and Schedule 4). Governing bodies of maintained secondary schools and the proprietors of secondary independent and non-maintained special schools must provide the Secretary of State with general information about the school (regulation 10 and Schedule 5).

Part IV contains provisions relating to the publication of information.

The governing bodies of secondary schools and primary schools with pupils in the final year of the second key stage are under a duty to provide parents and others with information about secondary schools (regulation 11).