{{distinguish, National Assessments Bureau The National Assessment Agency (NAA) was, until December 2008, a subsidiary unit of the

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA) was a charity, and an executive non-departmental public body (NDPB) of the Department for Education. In England and Northern Ireland, the QCDA maintained and developed the National Cu ...

(QCA), an executive

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process of n ...

(NDPB) of the Department for Education and Skills (now the

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England. A Department ...

) in England and Wales. The agency was based on Bolton Street in west London.

History

First announced in November 2003, the agency was not officially launched until April 2004. The agency took over the delivery and administration of the National Curriculum Tests in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, previously undertaken by the QCA to whom they are accountable.

Functions

As well as being responsible for the national curriculum tests, the agency worked work with examination bodies in further reforms of the

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

and

A-level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

examinations in England and Wales.

Examination reforms

The agency claimed that it would modernise the examination system, for which it was given a remit from the government of £100m. The remit covered a two-year period from 2004 to 2006. The NAA's Managing Director was David Gee. He was forced to leave on 16 December 2008.

Administration of tests

Whilst the NAA took over the administrative task of test delivery, QCA retained their role in regulating

testing An examination (exam or evaluation) or test is an educational assessment intended to measure a test-taker's knowledge, skill, aptitude, physical fitness, or classification in many other topics (e.g., beliefs). A test may be administered verba ...

standards. Prior to the launch of the NAA,

Charles Clarke Charles Rodway Clarke (born 21 September 1950) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Norwich South from 1997 until 2010, and served as Home Secretary from December 2004 until May 2006. Early life T ...

, the then Secretary of State for Education and Skills stated that the separation of these two roles, made possible by the creation of the new agency, would decrease what was regarded by the government as conflicting responsibilities.

External links

Official site

November 2003.

April 2004.

News items

Education in England Defunct public bodies of the United Kingdom Organizations established in 2004 Standardised tests in England Government agencies disestablished in 2008 2004 establishments in England Standardised tests in Wales 2008 disestablishments in England