Ofqual has today published the National Foundation for Educational Research’s (NFER’s) further analyses of 2021’s National Reference Test (NRT) in English and maths, and an analysis of year 11 and year 13 students’ views of disruption caused by the pandemic.
The NRT is taken every year from February to March by a nationally representative sample of year 11 students in England. The tests measure attainment in English and maths and provide objective evidence of changes in attainment over time.
The NRT in 2020 was largely unaffected by the pandemic, as it took place before schools were closed for the first national lockdown. In 2021, when exams could not take place for the second year running, the NRT took place later than usual, from mid-April to mid-May.
The main NRT outcomes, published last year, showed the overall performance for the NRT in 2021 in English and maths. There was no significant change in the overall performance in English for students in 2021 compared with students in 2020. There was a statistically significant drop in the overall performance in maths…
