National curriculum assessments: monitoring and moderation agreements
Guidance for local authorities, academies and independent schools on implementing monitoring and moderation agreements for the national curriculum assessments.
Statutory requirements
This guidance expands on the statutory:
- phonics screening check assessment and reporting arrangements
- key stage 2 (KS2) assessment and reporting arrangements
- KS2 teacher assessment guidance
Local authorities, academies and participating independent schools must put in place monitoring and moderation agreements for the national curriculum assessments each year. Their individual responsibilities are outlined below.
Local authorities, academies and participating independent schools will use the National Curriculum Assessments Portal (NCA Portal) to record their monitoring and moderation agreements.
From the academic year 2025 to 2026 onwards:
- academies and participating independent schools will confirm their local authority monitoring and moderation agreements on the NCA Portal
- local authorities will approve or reject monitoring and moderation agreements on the NCA Portal, based on whether a written agreement is in place
- users can check the status and due dates for these activities in the ‘Dashboard’ section of the NCA Portal
Local authorities
Local authorities are responsible for ensuring academies within their geographic area have an agreement in place for:
- monitoring the phonics screening check
- monitoring the KS2 tests
- moderation of KS2 teacher assessment
Local authorities may also put in place monitoring and moderation agreements with non-geographic academies or participating independent schools. Where this is the case, local authorities must ensure that agreements are in place before the deadlines outlined in the Important dates.
Local authorities are required to approve all agreements in place with non-geographic academies and participating independent schools on the NCA Portal. When a local authority receives an email notification that a school has submitted a request for approval, they should:
- review the request using the ‘Approve monitoring and moderation agreement requests’ form in the ‘Activities’ section of the NCA Portal
- approve or reject requests from participating independent schools by Tuesday 8 December 2026
- approve or reject requests from academies by Tuesday 12 January 2027
Local authorities should only grant approval where there is a written agreement in place. If a non-geographic academy or participating independent school nominates a local authority for monitoring or moderation activities without a written agreement in place, the local authority must discuss this with them. If the local authority ultimately rejects the nomination on the NCA Portal, they must explain why they could not reach an agreement.
Local authorities will also have access to a report on the NCA Portal, detailing the:
- academies and independent schools that have selected them for moderation
- academies in their geographic area that have selected an alternative, non-geographic local authority for moderation
Local authorities must review this information and report any inaccuracies by the related deadline to the national curriculum assessments helpline:
National curriculum assessments helpline
Call: 0300 303 3013
Email: assessments@education.gov.uk
Online: NCA Portal ‘Support’
Academies
Academies must put in place a written agreement with their chosen local authority for:
- monitoring the phonics screening check
- monitoring the KS2 tests
- moderation of KS2 teacher assessment
If academies choose their geographic local authority, they do not need to confirm this.
If academies choose a non-geographic local authority, they must:
- complete the ‘Submit local authority monitoring and moderation agreement requests’ form in the ‘Activities’ section of the NCA Portal by Friday 8 January 2027
- inform their geographic local authority, to ensure they are aware and can maintain correct records
If academies do not confirm that they have chosen a non-geographic local authority by the deadline, they will remain assigned to their geographic local authority on the NCA Portal.
Independent schools
Participating independent schools must put in place a written agreement with their chosen local authority for:
- monitoring the KS2 tests
- moderation of KS2 teacher assessment, if submitting data
All participating independent schools must confirm which local authority they have chosen by completing the ‘Submit local authority monitoring and moderation agreement requests’ form in the ‘Activities’ section of the NCA Portal by Friday 4 December 2026.
If an independent school does not confirm their chosen local authority by the deadline, their KS2 test orders will be cancelled.
Important dates
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| From Monday 21 September 2026 | Report available on the NCA Portal for local authorities to review the schools externally moderated in the academic year 2025 to 2026 |
| Monday 2 November 2026 | ‘Submit local authority monitoring and moderation agreement requests’ form available for academies and participating independent schools on the NCA Portal |
| Monday 2 November 2026 | ‘Approve monitoring and moderation agreement requests’ form available for local authorities on the NCA Portal |
| Friday 4 December 2026 | Deadline for participating independent schools to put in place monitoring and moderation agreements and confirm their chosen local authority on the NCA Portal |
| Tuesday 8 December 2026 | Deadline for local authorities to approve all monitoring and moderation agreements in place with independent schools on the NCA Portal |
| Friday 8 January 2027 | Deadline for all academies to put in place monitoring and moderation agreements |
| Friday 8 January 2027 | Deadline for academies to confirm if they have chosen a non-geographic local authority for monitoring and moderation on the NCA Portal |
| Tuesday 12 January 2027 | Deadline for local authorities to approve all monitoring and moderation agreements in place with academies on the NCA Portal |
| Tuesday 12 January 2027 | Report available on the NCA Portal for local authorities to review the academies and independent schools that have selected them for monitoring and moderation |
| Friday 29 January 2027 | Deadline for local authorities to report any inaccuracies within their final list of schools for monitoring and moderation to the national curriculum assessments helpline |