Statutory guidance

National curriculum assessments: maladministration investigation procedures

Updated 24 March 2025

Introduction

The Standards and Testing Agency (STA) has a statutory duty, on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education, to investigate matters which relate to the accuracy of pupils’ results and outcomes in the national curriculum assessments.

STA’s remit is to determine whether there is doubt over the accuracy of pupils’ results or assessments. The legal basis for this is set out in:

• The Early Years Foundation Stage (Miscellaneous Amendments) and Childcare Fees (Amendment) Regulations 2021
• The Education (National Curriculum) (Key Stage 1 Assessment Arrangements) (England) Order 2004 (as amended)
• The Education (National Curriculum) (Key Stage 2 Assessment Arrangements) (England) Order 2003 (as amended)

This publication is for local authorities, school leaders, school staff and accountable bodies in all maintained schools, academies, free schools and participating independent schools. It outlines STA’s procedures for investigating allegations of maladministration of national curriculum assessments. Investigations are designed to safeguard the integrity of the assessments.

This document covers the:

• reception baseline assessment (RBA)
• phonics screening check
• multiplication tables check (MTC)
• key stage 2 (KS2) tests and teacher assessment

Matters reported to STA about the accuracy of pupils’ results in the national curriculum assessments are referred to as ‘allegations of maladministration’ within these procedures.

Maladministration refers to any act that:

• affects the integrity, security or confidentiality of the national curriculum assessments
• could lead to results that do not reflect pupils’ unaided work
• compromises the validity and integrity of the data used by secondary schools (for pupil planning and subsequent pupil learning), the Department for Education (DfE) and parents

All references to ‘schools’ apply to the different types of schools as set out in section 1.1 of the KS2 assessment and reporting arrangements (ARA).

If you are involved in administering a check or test in the academic year 2024 to 2025, you should prepare by reading the relevant guidance from the:

• RBA ARA
• RBA administration guidance
• phonics screening check ARA
• phonics screening check administration guidance
• KS2 ARA
• MTC administration guidance
• KS2 test administration guidance
• KS2 teacher assessment guidance

Examples of maladministration

Maladministration of the RBA, phonics screening check, MTC or KS2 tests can be unintentional or intentional. It can include:

• test or check administrators over-aiding pupils
• making changes to pupils’ test scripts
• schools reporting pupils’ phonics screening check scores incorrectly
• schools allowing pupils to restart the MTC for a reason other than those permitted, as outlined in the administration guidance
• schools applying access arrangements for pupils taking the MTC which are not a part of their normal classroom practice
• administering the RBA outside of school hours
• schools completing the RBA by inputting answers on a pupil’s behalf or not recording the pupil’s answer
• unauthorised additional time or timetable variation in the KS2 tests
• failure to notify STA of the use of a scribe, transcribe, word processors, or other technical or electronic aid in the KS2 tests
• failure to appropriately remove or cover room displays
• early opening of assessment materials without permission
• disclosing test content to a third party or publicly, including online or on social media, before and within the test window – including during timetable variation week

Maladministration of teacher assessment can include:

• changes to teacher assessment judgements by school staff to influence school assessment outcomes
• submitting different data to that agreed during local authority moderation
• submitting pupils’ work as independent even though it has been heavily supported by an adult, as evidence to justify teacher assessment judgements (scaffolding evidence)
• incorrect or invalid writing evidence

Sources of maladministration allegations

STA receives allegations of maladministration from various sources, including:

• members of the public, including parents
• school staff and governors
• secondary schools
• academy sponsor staff
• local authority staff
• local authorities who conducted KS2 or phonics screening check monitoring visits
• markers of the KS2 tests
• external organisations, such as Ofsted or Ofqual
• anonymous sources

Roles and responsibilities

Standards and Testing Agency

STA’s role is to safeguard the integrity of the assessments and results data. STA does not apportion blame for any maladministration. Any subsequent disciplinary proceedings are the decision and responsibility of the school’s accountable body, which may make a referral to the Teaching Regulation Agency.

STA will allocate a case manager to each case of alleged maladministration. This is to ensure all investigations are conducted rigorously, fairly and without bias.

The case manager is responsible for:

• overseeing the investigation
• completing script reviews of the relevant KS2 test papers
• reviewing access arrangement applications, notifications and their outcome, where appropriate
• reviewing MTC data – for example, the time a check was taken, device type, or numbers and types of access arrangements
• reviewing phonics screening check data supplied by the school to their local authority and, if applicable, monitoring visit forms completed by the local authority
• reviewing RBA data
• providing written communications about the outcome of the investigation, where appropriate, to schools, their local authority and accountable body

Ofsted

STA shares high level information on ongoing maladministration investigations with Ofsted. This includes the:

• DfE number
• school name
• key stage
• assessment
• allegation type
• outcome category, once available

STA shares this information to avoid school inspections being scheduled during an investigation. STA does not share details of the investigation itself, including documents, reports or conversations. On occasions where intentional over-aiding across whole cohorts and subjects is found, the information provided by STA may form part of Ofsted’s discussions if a school already had an inspection visit scheduled.

Local authorities

STA may ask local authorities to visit schools to gather information as part of an investigation. Local authority staff conducting these visits will be familiar with the maladministration investigation visits guidance and details of the particular allegation of maladministration, provided by STA, before they carry out school visits.

STA is responsible for deciding whether pupils’ results were compromised due to maladministration and may consult with local authorities.

Logging and initial processing of allegations

Allegations of maladministration should be reported by emailing STA.maladministration@education.gov.uk or by calling the national curriculum assessments helpline on 0300 303 3013.

If a school is reporting a case of a pupil cheating in an end of KS2 test, they can alternatively use the ‘Notification of pupil cheating’ form on the Primary Assessment Gateway (PAG).

STA logs all allegations of maladministration. Anyone reporting an allegation should provide as much detail as possible to help STA decide which next steps are most appropriate.

The person making an allegation has the option to remain anonymous. All information collected will be processed and retained in accordance with the:

• Data Protection Act 2018
• UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
• Freedom of Information Act 2000

STA will not keep the person making the allegation informed of the progress or outcome of an investigation.

After receiving an allegation, STA considers the details and takes one of the following 3 decisions and subsequent actions:

1. Maladministration has not occurred

STA will close the case. If a school is unaware of the allegation and nothing has been found or the allegation is incorrect, the school will not be informed. This may happen, for example, if an individual reports an additional time allegation to STA and the school has an approved additional time application.

2. Maladministration has occurred but there is no impact on the accuracy of pupils’ assessments

STA may decide that minor maladministration has occurred, but it has not affected the accuracy of pupils’ results. If this is the case, STA will not change or annul the school’s assessment outcomes.

Minor maladministration may happen if, for example, room displays were not covered correctly but they did not give an advantage to the pupils sitting the assessment. It may also happen if the wrong test pack was opened but immediately resealed.

STA will write to the school informing them of this decision and suggest actions for the school to take to ensure similar minor maladministration does not occur again and to protect future assessment outcomes.

3. Maladministration has occurred and there is potential impact on the accuracy of pupils’ assessments

STA decides to conduct a further investigation. The activities which can form part of an investigation are described in Investigating allegations. A school’s results may be withheld pending the outcome of the investigation. A pupil’s results may be partially or fully annulled after return of results.

Investigating allegations

To inform KS2 investigations, STA will usually review scanned test scripts and, in some cases, hard copy test scripts. If relevant to the nature of the allegation, STA will review access arrangement applications and notifications.

To avoid being subject to allegations of access arrangements maladministration, schools should ensure that the process to scribe or transcribe pupils’ work is completed correctly, as detailed in sections 6 to 8 of the KS2 access arrangements guidance.

For the MTC, STA will review MTC service data – for example, STA can identify the time and date checks were taken, the number of devices used and access arrangements enabled and used.

For the RBA, STA will review data from the RBA assessment services.  

For the phonics screening check, STA will work with schools and local authorities to confirm if results for individual pupils or full cohorts are valid.

For teacher assessment, STA will use the findings from moderation visits conducted by local authorities – for example, where a change on judgements is not reflected in the data. Where a school under investigation has not already had a moderation visit, STA may ask their local authority to carry one out.

Discussion with a school

STA is often able to resolve an allegation through discussion with the school. STA will contact the headteacher of the school and keep records of all discussions. These discussions allow the headteacher to answer queries to help STA’s case manager understand what may or may not have happened. In all cases, STA will contact the headteacher and ask for their contribution before considering an annulment of results.

The KS2 ARA states that the headteacher is responsible for ensuring all administration requirements are implemented in their school. STA will therefore liaise directly with the headteacher during an investigation and not, for example, with a school’s accountable body.

School visits

Local authority staff may visit a school as part of an investigation. The headteacher should inform the school’s accountable body, where applicable, if they are notified of a school visit. STA uses these visits to gather information about:

• the procedures in place to keep materials secure
• how the checks or assessments were administered
• the measures the school put in place to ensure their teacher assessment data is accurate

If the school does not already know the nature of the allegation, the lead interviewer will confirm this at the start of the visit.

After the visit, the lead interviewer will write a report of their findings for STA. STA will provide the school with a copy of the report, but any personal or identifying information will be redacted. STA will then give the school the opportunity to provide a written response to the report.

STA is responsible for deciding whether pupils’ results were compromised due to maladministration and may consult with local authorities.

Investigation timing

STA aims to complete investigations in a timely manner. The start time and length of an investigation varies and depends on:

• the nature of the allegation
• the assessment type
• the complexity of the case
• the availability of information relevant to a case
• when and how the allegation was reported

STA completes maladministration investigations for all assessments throughout the year.

Representations provided by schools under investigation

During an investigation, if STA’s case manager considers there may have been maladministration and there is doubt over the accuracy of pupils’ outcomes, results or teacher assessment, they will notify the headteacher when they provide their findings.

The headteacher will then have an opportunity to respond with any further information for STA to consider as part of the investigation, known as ‘representations’.

A case manager will consider the representations in a peer review with another case manager. During this peer review, they take into consideration all information the school has provided. If the case managers cannot reach a decision, the case is then reviewed by STA’s senior decision maker, who will be independent of the investigation with the authority to make the final decision.

STA will use a decision meeting to determine what actions are required. At the meeting, the case manager will present all information gathered during the investigation to STA’s senior decision maker, including:

• the original allegation
• what steps were taken to investigate
• what information they reviewed – for example, evidence from monitoring visits, or data from the RBA or MTC services
• KS2 script review findings
• the case manager’s findings
• the headteacher’s response to these findings (their representation)

The case manager will make a closing recommendation to STA’s senior decision maker at the decision meeting. The senior decision maker will then make the final decision, including whether to annul or amend pupils’ outcomes, results or teacher assessments.

Investigation outcomes

When there is doubt about the accuracy of pupils’ results, STA can make the following decisions for individual pupils, a partial cohort or the whole cohort for the relevant year group:

Assessment	Maladministration
RBA	Remove the data. It will not be used to contribute to the final progress measure.
Phonics screening check	Annul the outcome. Pupils in year 1 will have the opportunity to take the check again the following year. Pupils in year 2 will not be able to re-take the check in future years.
MTC	Annul the results, if it is after the check window and cannot be re-taken.
KS2 tests	Annul the relevant KS2 test results.
KS2 teacher assessment	Amend teacher assessment judgements.

Assessment	Minor maladministration
RBA	Email to close, citing near miss and actions to take, but no impact on pupil data.
Phonics screening check	Email to close, citing near miss and actions to take, but no impact on pupil data.
MTC	Email to close. Affected pupils can re-take check within the window.
KS2 tests	Email to close, citing near miss and actions to take, but no impact on pupil data.
KS2 teacher assessment	Email to close, citing near miss and actions to take, but no impact on pupil data.

Treatment of single test annulments in key stage 2

Where a pupil’s result for a single test paper in either English grammar, punctuation and spelling or mathematics is annulled following a maladministration investigation, STA will record the pupil’s overall outcome in the relevant subject as ‘At standard’ (AS) if the pupil achieves enough raw marks on the non-annulled test papers to meet the expected standard. The outcome for the individual test paper which was annulled will remain as ‘Q’.

This information will be reflected in the performance data published by DfE.

If a pupil does not receive an overall test result for a KS2 subject, then the school should report their KS2 teacher assessment to parents instead. This will also support the pupil’s transition into secondary school.

Further actions and investigations

Any maladministration decision is final and there is no right of appeal. Once STA has made a decision, they will notify the school and confirm this by letter, explaining the decision and what actions the school needs to take. STA will also copy the school’s accountable body and the relevant local authority.

It is the school’s responsibility to report any annulments or amendments of pupils’ outcomes or results to parents for all checks and assessments.

The term ‘parent’ is used in this document as defined in section 576 of the Education Act 1996 as:

• parents of a child
• any person who is not a parent of a child but who has parental responsibility for the child
• any person who has care of the child

The school’s accountable body is responsible for carrying out any further investigation and should consider referrals to the Teaching Regulation Agency where appropriate.

Further information

If you have any further questions, want advice or need to report allegations of maladministration, please contact either:

• STA’s maladministration team at STA.maladministration@education.gov.uk
• the national curriculum assessments helpline on 0300 303 3013

STA also publishes maladministration reports which detail the total numbers, sources and types of allegations of maladministration reported to STA’s maladministration team each academic year.