There are 79 primary schools in Herefordshire, of which 54 are Local Authority (LA) maintained. In addition, 32 academy primary schools have nominated Herefordshire to also provide the following services for them each academic year.

The provision of Key Stage 1 & 2 moderation and Phonics Screening Checks is a statutory requirement for Local Authorities. All service requirements are directed by the Standards and Testing Agency (STA), an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Education (DfE), and these can change throughout the year so the provider needs to be aware of and flexible to meet Herefordshire Council’s statutory obligations.

The Education (National Curriculum) (Key Stage 1 Assessment Arrangements) and (Key Stage 2 Assessment Arrangements) (England) Order 2004 (article 6) (made under section 87 of the Education Act 2002) sets out the requirement for local authorities to moderate teacher assessments in at least 25% of schools (14) which they maintain to ensure consistency of standards, and states that Local authorities must visit 10% of schools (6) administering National Curriculum Tests (NCTs) for monitoring purposes. In addition to the above, at least 25% of both LA maintained primary schools and academies must be visited on a least a four year cycle to conduct moderation checks, as required by the STA.

Provision of this service was halted during the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, so whilst some preparatory work to train and assess was conducted, no actual moderation or phonics visits took place. The moderation cycle re-commenced from September 2021, and since then the Provider has worked above contractual visit numbers to complete the work that was postponed during the pandemic.

For the academic year 2020-2021 (year one the current three year contract) Marlbrook Federation of Schools charged Herefordshire Council £2,975, resulting in an under-spend of £16,025. This is the reason why the value of the extension period is only £2,975 instead of £19,000 for the year. Contract spend for year two and the forecast for year three is at the contractual cost of £19,000 each year.

Following a review of this contract in March 2023 the Operational Lead, Head of Service - Learning and Achievement, confirmed that they were very satisfied with how the service has performed and been delivered to date. Everything has run smoothly, with no issues being raised by either the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority or Department for Education regarding the service providers’ data submissions.

Due to the large amount of planning required the current provider has already scheduled visits in for 2023, and has shared this with the Operational Lead for the contract. These include schools that were last moderated in 2017, and should have been visited in 2021.

The recommendation is to vary the existing contract with Marlbrook Federation of Schools for a further 12 months to enable the provider to undertake both the routine and the additional visits that had been postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.

This will also allow time for the service specification to be further reviewed and updated, which will lead to a new open tender exercise. This is in light of recent communications from the Standards and Testing Agency (sponsored by the Department for Education) regarding Key Stage 1 ‘Reading Writing and Maths’ visit requirements which will no longer be compulsory from 1st September 2024.