Primary school accountability
Technical guidance on primary school accountability measures.
Updates to this page
- From:
- Department for Education
- Published:
- 29 January 2016
- Last updated:
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15 September 2026
Show all updates
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Updated 'Primary school accountability in 2026: technical guide' to remove row 20 from table 8, which was published in error.
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Added ‘Primary school accountability in 2026: technical guide’ and removed ‘Primary school accountability in 2025: technical guide’. This update includes information regarding the calculation of KS1 to KS2 progress measures after a 2 year gap due to Covid-19 disruption.
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Added 'Primary school accountability in 2025: technical guide' and removed 'Primary school accountability in 2024: technical guide'.
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Updated 'Primary school accountability in 2024: technical guide' to include the 2023 to 2024 key stage 2 school performance measures.
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Updated the 'Primary school accountability in 2024: technical guide' to include information about how 2023 to 2024 key stage 2 performance measures will be calculated and presented.
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Updated page 29 of the technical guide, Figure A.1: Distribution of schools’ progress scores for reading, writing and maths. In the ‘Percentiles’ column, the 7th row has been updated from ‘Bottom 75%' to ‘Bottom 25%’.
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Replaced the 'Primary school accountability in 2023: technical guide' – Table D.3 (standard deviations of pupil progress scores in reading, writing and maths) on pg 39 has been updated with 2023 values (3 figures).
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Update to ‘Primary school accountability in 2023: technical guide’ includes further information about KS2 performance measures for 2022 to 2023 and the use of the 2022 to 2023 KS2 school level performance data.
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Updated to reflect performance measures for the 2022 to 2023 academic year, how we will use the data and prior attainment groups.
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Updated the 'Primary school accountability in 2022: technical guide' to include further information for primary performance measures for 2022 to 2023, 2023 to 2024 and 2024 to 2025.
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Updated the 'Primary school accountability in 2022: technical guide' to include information about how 2022 to 2023 performance measures will be presented.
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Update to 'Primary school accountability in 2022: technical guide' to reflect revised data.
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'Primary Accountability Technical Guidance' page 11 – date updated to reflect that for 2021 to 2022, we will produce measures for MATs where schools have been with the MAT for at least three academic years.
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Published ‘Primary school accountability in 2022: technical guide’, replacing the existing documents. The update includes further information about key stage 2 accountability arrangements and the use of key stage 2 school performance data from 2021 to 2022. It also sets out further detail on methodological changes DfE has made to primary progress measures for 2022.
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We have updated 'Primary accountability measures: measures for the 2021 to 2022 academic year'.
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Added 'Primary accountability measures: measures for the 2021 to 2022 academic year'.
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Updated 'Primary school accountability in 2019: technical guide' and 'How we calculate the progress measure bandings: key stage 2'.
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Updated with revised primary school accountability technical guide valid from September 2019. The document details the changes.
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Replaced 2017 'Key stage 2 similar schools guidance' document with 2018 version.
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Updated 'How we calculate the progress measure bandings: key stage 2' with 2018 figures.
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Updated 'Primary school accountability in 2018: technical guide'. The document details the changes. Also updated 'How we calculate the progress measure bandings: key stage 2'.
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Updated 'Primary school accountability in 2018'. The document details the changes.
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Updated primary school accountability technical guidance.
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Added information about progress measure bandings.
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Published similar schools technical guidance for 2017. Removed documents relevant only to 2016.
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Updated the primary school accountability in 2017 technical guide to include the 2017 coasting threshold.
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Updated the technical guide with information about changes to the primary progress methodology in 2017 for pupils below the standard of the test. Also updated figures in the document with provisional 2017 data.
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Updated technical guide to include proposed changes to methodology in 2017 for including pupils below the standard of the test in the progress measures. Also confirms that we will set thresholds for floor standards and coasting definition for 2017 in the autumn.
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Updated the 'Key stage 2: progress measure bandings' document on how we calculate the progress descriptions.
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Updated guidance with a link to the coasting schools regulations, and additional information about what happens once a school falls within the coasting definition.
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Added video explaining how we measure primary school performance.
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Update to the technical guidance with revised 2016 data published on 15 December 2016. Added 'ready reckoners' and bandings guide.
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Updated the main technical guidance document with a 'coasting' schools definition. Updated the summary document with further information about how we calculate primary progress measures.
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Updated 'Primary school accountability in 2016'. Updates included on sufficient progress thresholds, high score thresholds, key stage 2 writing teacher assessment points and pupils below the standard of the test. Also added the document 'Primary accountability: summary of new progress measures'.
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First published.
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Applies to England
Documents
Details
The technical guide is for all primary schools. It sets out how we calculate primary school accountability measures.
This guidance is for:
- senior leaders working in primary schools and trusts, including maintained schools, academies, alternative provision, free schools and special schools
- governors and trustees
- local authorities