Herefordshire Key Stage 3 results above national average

Herefordshire’s 14-year-olds have maintained a five-year trend for achieving results in English, Maths and Science above the national average.

According to provisional national school tests released by the government this week (Tuesday 12 August 2008), the county continues to enjoy a high quality of education but several schools are appealing against poor quality marking by the nationally-appointed contractor ETS Europe.

Paul Murray, secondary school improvement manager with Herefordshire Council, congratulated pupils and teachers for their hard work in contributing to this achievement in Key Stage 3 Sats results.

However, all but one secondary school in the county did not receive marked papers in time to inform pupils of their results before they left for their summer break. And four primary schools have also yet to receive marked papers.

Around a third of all schools in Herefordshire are challenging the marks produced by private contractor ETS and have returned the papers after considering the service to be of poor quality. Initial results may change as a result of school challenges.