Exam board Pearson will run Sats from 2025 after winning a contract worth up to £180 million.
The assessments are currently being run by outsourcing firm Capita, which oversaw Year 6 Sats last year when there were marking delays as a result of “technical issues”.
The Department for Education’s Standards and Testing Agency (STA) has selected Pearson for a four-year contract to run Sats, beginning in 2025-26.
The contract includes managing the administration, processing, marking and support for tests for more than 16,500 primary schools in England.
The assessments covered by the contract include key stage 2 Sats, the optional key stage 1 national curriculum assessments, the phonics screening check and teacher assessments in English writing and science.
Pearson will print all test papers, scan them, mark them and deliver data. It will also provide a support helpline for schools.
A tender document published in 2022 listed the contract as worth up to £180 million.
Fears about Sats marking
Capita won a six-year contract worth £109 million to manage the process in 2018. This was later extended by a year to take the contract up to the end of the 2025 test cycle.
National assessments were cancelled during the pandemic but returned in 2022.
Concerns were raised by markers of the 2022 KS2 Sats that the way the assessments were managed would affect the accuracy of marking.
And more than three in five calls to the official Sats helpline for schools in spring 2022 went unanswered, a report by Ofqual found.
In 2023 Capita delayed the marking of Year 6 Sats papers by a week due to “technical issues”. The firm apologised for the delay at the time but said the new schedule “could not be altered”.
A report by Ofqual into the marking delay said it would be seeking assurances from the STA that there would be no such delay to marking in 2024.
Sharon Hague, managing director at Pearson School Qualifications, said: “We look forward to applying our experience and expertise to the delivery of primary school assessment and to supporting thousands of schools across England to deliver these important tests.”
Capita will continue to administer the contract in 2024 and 2025.
For the latest education news and analysis delivered directly to your inbox every weekday morning, sign up to the Tes Daily newsletter
