Citation, commencement and application

1. —(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Education (Pupil Information) (England) Regulations 2005 and shall come into force on 8 July 2005.

(2) These Regulations apply to schools in England.

Interpretation

2. In these Regulations—

^M2 “ the 2002 Act ” means the Education Act 2002 ;

[^F1 “the 2004 document ” means the document entitled “Assessment and Reporting Arrangements” published by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority for the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 in 2004; ^F1]

^F2 ...

[^F3 “the associated document” means any document [^F4 (other than the pre-key stage standards document for key stage 1, the pre-key stage standards document for key stage 2 and the engagement model) ^F4] published by the Department for Education under a section 87(3)(a) and (b) order for the foundation subjects, setting out any attainment targets and programmes of study for each of those subjects; ^F3]

“ core subjects ” means English, mathematics and science;

“ curricular record ” means a formal record of a pupil's academic achievements, his other skills and abilities and his progress in school;

“ Departmental number ” means a reference number unique to each establishment and allocated by use of a formula determined by [^F5 the [^F6 Department for Education ^F6,F5]] ;

[^F7 “the engagement model” means the document published by the Department for Education on [^F8 15th April 2024 ^F8] entitled “The engagement model”; ^F7]

^F9 “ external marking agency ” means a body ... approved by the Secretary of State to mark NC tests;

“ foundation subjects ” means art and design, citizenship, design and technology, geography, history, information and communication technology, a modern foreign language, music, physical education and the core subjects;

“key stage” or references to a particular key stage shall be construed in accordance with section 82 of the 2002 Act;

“ maintained school ” means a community, foundation or voluntary school or a community or foundation special school other than such a school which is established in a hospital;

[^F10 “management committee”, in relation to a pupil referral unit, means the management committee for that unit established pursuant to the Education (Pupil Referral Units) (Management Committees etc. ) Regulations 2007; ^F10]

“ NC attainment targets ” means the National Curriculum attainment targets described in the [^F11 associated document ^F11] ;

[^F12 “NC standards of attainment” means the National Curriculum standards of attainment described in the associated document; ^F12]

^M3 “ NC tasks ” means the National Curriculum standard tasks administered to pupils pursuant to the statutory arrangements ;

^M4 “ NC tests ” means the National Curriculum tests administered to pupils pursuant to the statutory arrangements ;

“ NC test tiers ” means the National Curriculum test tiers described in the [^F13 associated document ^F13] ;

[^F14 “ the pre-key stage standards document for key stage 1 ” means the document published by the Department for Education on [^F15 15th April 2024 ^F15] entitled “Pre-key stage 1: pupils working below the national curriculum assessment standard”, and “the pre-key stage standards for key stage 1” means the standards set out in that document;

“ the pre-key stage standards document for key stage 2 ” means the document published by the Department for Education on 23rd July 2020 entitled “Pre-key stage 2: pupils working below the national curriculum assessment standard”, and “the pre-key stage standards for key stage 2” means the standards set out in that document; ^F14]

^F16 ...

^F17 ...

^F18 ...

^M5 “ personal education plan ” means the plan referred to in section 5.16 to 5.26 of the guidance entitled “Guidance on the Education of Children and Young People in Public Care , which a local authority must ensure is provided for every child and young person in their care;

^F19 ...

[^F20 “ the relevant key stage ” means—

“ responsible person ” means—

[^F24 SEN support” means the type of special educational needs provision forming part of the graduated approach adopted pursuant to “The Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0-25 years” published on 29th July 2014 under section 77 of the Children and Families Act 2014 ^F24]

[^F25 “special educational needs” is to be interpreted in accordance with [^F26 section 20(1) of the Children and Families Act 2014 ^F26] ; ^F25]

“ the statutory arrangements ” means the assessment arrangements specified by orders made under section 87(3)(c) of the 2002 Act;

^M6 “ teacher assessment ” means assessment of a pupil's NC [^F27 standard ^F27] of attainment in a subject by the pupil's teacher, as specified in the statutory arrangements ;

“ unauthorised absence ” means any absence from the school for which leave has not been granted by a person authorised in that behalf by the governing body of the school;

[^F28 “unique learner number”, in relation to a registered pupil at a school, means the specific combination of numbers allocated to the pupil by [^F29 the Secretary of State ^F29] as that pupil’s unique learner number; ^F28]

“ unique pupil number ” means a combination of numbers which, together with a letter or letters, are allocated to a pupil by use of a formula determined by [^F5 the [^F6 Department for Education ^F6,F5]] and are particular to that pupil.

Meaning of educational record

3. —(1) Subject to paragraph (4), in these Regulations “ educational record ” means any record of information which—

(a) is processed by or on behalf of the governing body of, or a teacher at, any school specified in paragraph (2);

(b) relates to any person who is or has been a pupil at any such school; and

(c) originated from or was supplied by or on behalf of any of the persons specified in paragraph (3),

other than information which is processed by a teacher solely for the teacher's own use.

(2) The schools referred to in paragraph (1)(a) are—

(a) any school maintained by a local education authority; and

(b) any special school which is not so maintained.

(3) The persons referred to in paragraph (1)(c) are—

(a) any employee of the local education authority which maintains the school or former school attended by the pupil to whom the record relates;

(b) in the case of—

(i) a voluntary aided, foundation or foundation special school; or

(ii) a special school which is not maintained by a local education authority,

any teacher or other employee at the school or at the pupil's former school (including any educational psychologist engaged by the governing body under a contract for services);

(c) the pupil to whom the record relates; and

(d) a parent of that pupil.

(4) In addition to the information referred to in paragraph (1), an educational record includes—

(a) any [^F30 EHC plan ^F30] ; and

(b) any personal education plan,

relating to the pupil concerned.

(5) For the purposes of this regulation, “ processed ” shall be construed in accordance with the definition of “processing” in [^F31 section 3(4) of the Data Protection Act 2018 ^F31] .

Duty to keep curricular records

4. The governing body of every school maintained by a local education authority (other than a nursery school), and of every special school not so maintained, shall keep a curricular record, updated at least once every school year, in respect of every registered pupil at the school.

Disclosure of curricular and educational records

5. —(1) This regulation applies to the governing body of any school maintained by a local education authority (other than a nursery school) and any special school not so maintained.

(2) Subject to paragraph (4), the governing body shall make a pupil's educational record available for inspection by the parent, free of charge, within fifteen school days of receipt of the parent's written request for access to that record.

(3) Subject to paragraph (4), the governing body shall provide a copy of a pupil's educational record to the parent, on payment of such fee (not exceeding the cost of supply), if any, as the governing body may prescribe, within fifteen school days of receipt of the parent's written request for a copy of that record.

(4) When complying with a request under paragraph (2) or paragraph (3), a governing body shall not make available for inspection or provide a copy of any information—

(a) which they could not lawfully disclose to the pupil himself under [^F32 the [^F33 UK GDPR ^F33,F32]] ; or

(b) in relation to which the pupil himself would have no right of access under [^F34 the [^F33 UK GDPR ^F33,F34]] .

(5) Subject to paragraph (6), where the pupil is under consideration for admission to another school (including an independent school) or to a [^F35 16 to 19 Academy, ^F35] further education institution or higher education institution, the governing body shall transfer the pupil's curricular record to the responsible person, free of charge, within fifteen school days of receipt of the responsible person's written request for that record.

(6) The record supplied under paragraph (5) shall not include the results of any assessment of the pupil's achievements.

[^F36 (7) In this regulation, “ the UK GDPR ” has the same meaning as in Parts 5 to 7 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (see section 3(10) and (14) of that Act). ^F36]

Head teacher's annual report to parents and adult pupils

6. —(1) This regulation applies to the head teacher of any school maintained by a local education authority.

(2) Subject to [^F37 paragraphs (3), (3A) and (6) ^F37] , prior to the end of the summer term of every school year, the head teacher shall—

(a) prepare a head teacher's report in respect of every registered pupil at the school, containing the information referred to in paragraph (4);

(b) provide a copy of each such report to the person specified in paragraph (7)(a) or (b), as the case may be, free of charge; and

(c) make arrangements to enable the recipient of the report to discuss its content with the pupil's teacher, if he so wishes.

(3) Paragraph (2) does not apply in relation to any pupil who is to be provided with a school leaver's report pursuant to regulation 8.

[^F38 (3A) Where the school is a pupil referral unit the head teacher shall only prepare the report referred to in paragraph (2) in respect of a registered pupil in the school year in which the pupil ceases to be of compulsory school age. ^F38]

(4) Subject to [^F39 paragraphs (4A) and (5) ^F39] , the head teacher's report shall include the information specified in Schedule 1.

[^F40 (4A) Where the school is a pupil referral unit the head teacher’s report shall only include the information specified in paragraph 1 of Schedule 1. ^F40]

(5) Where the head teacher has asked the external marking agency to review the result of any NC test taken by the pupil but still awaits the outcome of that review, he shall include the original result of the test in his report but indicate that it is provisional.

(6) The head teacher may provide the information referred to in paragraph (4) in the form of more than one report, provided that, subject to regulation 7, all such information is provided before the end of the summer term.

(7) The persons referred to in paragraph (2)(b) are—

(a) in the case of any pupil who is aged 18 or over at the time the head teacher's report is due to be provided and who is not proposing to leave school by the end of the school year to which the report relates, the pupil himself and, if the head teacher considers there to be special circumstances which make it appropriate, the parent of that pupil;

(b) in any other case, the parent of the pupil to whom the report relates.

(8) The period to which a head teacher's report relates shall begin with the later of—

(a) the pupil's date of admission to the school; or

(b) the day after the date on which the last report was made pursuant to this regulation (or, as the case may be, made available pursuant to regulation 6 of the regulations revoked by these Regulations).

Late receipt of information

7. —(1) Where any of the particulars necessary to provide the information referred to in regulation 6 and specified in paragraph (2) are not received by the head teacher until after the end of the summer term, he shall send such information within fifteen school days of receiving it.

(2) The information referred to in paragraph (1) is—

(a) the results of any public examinations taken;

(b) details of any vocational qualifications or credits toward any such qualifications gained;

(c) the results of any NC tests taken by the pupil; and

(d) the results of any reviews by the external marking agency of any NC tests taken by the pupil.

Head teacher's report to school leavers

8. —(1) The head teacher of every maintained school shall prepare a school leaver's report in respect of any pupil who has ceased to be of compulsory school age and is proposing to or has left the school, containing brief particulars of the pupil's progress and achievements in subjects and activities forming part of the school curriculum (other than in relation to any public examination or vocational qualification) in the school year during or at the end of which the pupil proposes to or has left school.

(2) The head teacher shall provide a copy of the school leaver's report to the pupil concerned by no later than 30th September following the end of the school year during or at the end of which the pupil left the school.

Transfer of information when a pupil changes school

9. [^F41—(1) In this regulation—

(a) “common transfer file” means a record of the information set out in Schedule 2, and

(b) “governing body” means, in relation to a pupil referral unit, the management committee. ^F41]

(2) Where this regulation requires information to be transferred in machine readable form, that requirement may be met by transferring the information—

(a) subject to paragraph (11), by an e-mail attachment;

(b) through an intranet provided for that purpose by or on behalf of a local authority, and for the purposes of this regulation an intranet means a closed network that can only be accessed—

(i) by the local education authority,

(ii) by or on behalf of a governing body of a school within the area of that authority; or

(iii) by a teacher at a school within the area of that authority; or

(c) through an internet website or other facility provided for that purpose by or on behalf of [^F42 the [^F43 Department for Education ^F43,F42]] .

(3) Subject to paragraphs (6), (7) and (8), when a pupil ceases to be registered at a [^F44 school maintained by a local education authority ^F44] (the “old school”) and becomes a registered pupil at another school (the “new school”), the governing body of the old school or, where this has been agreed between that governing body and the local education authority, that authority shall transfer the pupil's common transfer file and educational record to the responsible person of the new school no later than fifteen school days after the day on which the pupil ceases to be registered at the old school.

[^F45 (3A) Paragraph (3B) applies where a pupil becomes registered at a school maintained by a local education authority (“the second school”) and remains registered at another such school (“the first school”).

(3B) Subject to paragraph (8), the governing body of the first school or, where this has been agreed between that governing body and the local education authority which maintains the first school, that authority shall send a copy of the pupil’s common transfer file and educational record to the responsible person of the second school no later than fifteen school days after the date on which the head teacher of the first school learned of the second registration. ^F45]

(4) The common transfer file shall be transferred in machine readable form, except where either the old school or the new school[^F46 or, as the case may be, the first school or the second school ^F46] does not have the necessary facilities to send or receive such information in that form.

(5) The educational record may be transferred in machine readable form or in paper form or in a combination of both forms.

(6) Paragraph (3) shall not apply where it is not reasonably practicable for the governing body of the old school to ascertain the pupil's new school.

(7) The reference to “new school” in paragraph (3) shall include any school in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland with effect from 3 October 2005.

(8) Where a pupil has been registered at a [^F47 school maintained by a local education authority ^F47] for less than four weeks, it shall be sufficient compliance for the purposes of [^F48 paragraph (3) or (3B) ^F48] if the governing body of that school or, where applicable, the local education authority transfers such information and record as they have received under this regulation from the school at which the pupil was previously registered in the form in which it was received by them.

(9) For the purposes of paragraph (8), the reference in paragraph (3) to “ fifteen school days ” shall be a reference to the number of days after the day on which the pupil ceases to be registered at the school in question or to the number of days after the information and record have been received by the governing body of that school, whichever is the later.

(10) If the governing body of a pupil's old school[^F49 or first school ^F49] receives a request from the responsible person of the school at which the pupil is currently a registered pupil, either for the pupil's common transfer file or for any educational record relating to that pupil in the old school's [^F50 or first school’s ^F50] possession, they shall provide it within fifteen school days of receiving the request.

(11) Notwithstanding paragraph (2)(a), information may only be sent by an e-mail attachment up to and including 30 September 2005.

10. The following Regulations are hereby revoked—

(a) ^M7 The Education (Pupil Information) (England) Regulations 2000 ;

(b) ^M8 The Education (Pupil Information) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2001 ;

(c) ^M9 The Education (Pupil Information) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2002 ; and

(d) ^M10 The Education (Pupil Information (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2003 .

Regulation 6(4)

SCHEDULE 1 Information to be included in the head teacher's annual report

1. Except where otherwise specified, the following information must be included in the annual report of every pupil—

(a) brief particulars of achievements in all subjects and activities forming part of the school curriculum;

(b) comments on general progress;

(c) arrangements for discussing the report with the pupil's teacher;

[^F51 (d) attendance record, except where–

(i) the attendance record relates to the school year 2019/20 [^F52 or 2020/21 ^F52] ;

(ii) the pupil is in the reception year; or

(iii) the pupil is in year 12 or 13 and is no longer of compulsory school age; ^F51]

(e) the results of any public examinations taken, by subject and grade;

(f) details of any vocational qualifications or credits towards any such qualifications gained; and

(g) [^F53 unless that year is the school year 2019/20 [^F54 or 2020/21 ^F54] , ^F53] the results of any NC tests taken during that year, by [^F55 score ^F55] .

2. [^F56—(1) The following information must be included in the report of every pupil at the end of the second key stage—

(a) a brief commentary;

(b) the results of the teacher assessment of the pupil’s NC standards of attainment, excluding citizenship;

(c) particulars of any NC attainment targets or subjects from which the pupil is exempt;

(d) comparative information about the NC standards of attainment and scores of pupils of the same age in the school;

(e) comparative information about the NC standards of attainment and scores in the core subjects of pupils of the same age nationally;

(f) the results of the teacher assessment of his NC attainment targets in English;

(g) the results of the NC tests taken, by score; and

(h) a statement that the NC standards of attainment have been arrived at in accordance with the statutory arrangements. ^F56]

[^F57 (1A) Sub-paragraph (1) is subject to sub-paragraphs (2A) and (2B) ^F57]

[^F58 (2) ^F59 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(2A) In the case of a pupil with special educational needs in the second key stage who—

(a) is working at a standard below the NC standards of attainment for the second key stage; and

(b) is engaged in the study of English reading, English writing or mathematics,

in addition to the information specified in sub-paragraph (1), the further information that must be included in the report at the end of the second key stage is the pre-key stage standards for key stage 2 achieved by any such pupil in each subject referred to in paragraph (b) that that pupil is studying [^F60 unless that report is prepared in the school year 2020/21 ^F60] .

(2B) In the case of a pupil with special educational needs in [^F61 the second key stage ^F61] who—

(a) is working at a standard below the NC standards of attainment for [^F61 the second key stage ^F61] ; and

(b) is not engaged in the study of English reading, English writing or mathematics,

in addition to the information specified in sub-paragraph (1), the further information that must be included in the report at the end of [^F61 the second key stage ^F61] is a qualitative narrative commentary of the pupil’s achievements and progress in the areas of engagement identified in the engagement model. ^F58]

^F62 (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3. In this Schedule—

“ attendance record ” means a summary of the pupil's attendance during the period to which the information relates, showing the total number of possible attendances and the total number of unauthorised absences expressed as a percentage of the possible attendances;

“ brief commentary ” means a brief account of what the teacher assessments[^F63 and the pupil’s NC tests results ^F63] show about the pupil's progress individually, and in relation to other pupils in the same year, which draws attention to any particular strengths and weaknesses of the pupil;

“ comparative information ”, in relation to pupils of the same age nationally, means the information provided by [^F64 the [^F65 Department for Education ^F65,F64]] about the NC [^F66 standards of attainment and scores ^F66] in the core subjects of all registered pupils at schools in England in the final year of [^F67 the second key stage ^F67] for the preceding school year[^F68 unless the preceding school year is the school year 2019/20 [^F69 or 2020/21 ^F69] , in which case for the school year 2018/19. ^F68]

[^F70 “qualitative narrative commentary” means a brief account of the pupil’s achievements and progress individually, and in relation to the progress of other pupils in the same year, which draws attention to any particular strengths and weaknesses of the pupil. ^F70]

Regulation 9(1)

SCHEDULE 2 Information forming part of the common transfer file

1. The pupil's—

(a) unique pupil number;

[^F71 (aa) unique learner number, where known; ^F71]

(b) surname and where known, former surname;

(c) forename(s);

(d) date of birth;

(e) gender;

(f) ^F72 ethnic group; ...

(g) first language;

[^F73 (h) nationality;

(i) country of birth;

(j) proficiency in speaking, reading and writing in English. ^F73]

2. Where the pupil has special educational needs, the type of special educational provision that is being made for him ( [^F74 “ SEN support” or EHC plan ^F74] ).

3. The following information in relation to the school year in which the pupil transferred—

(a) the total number of sessions in the school year;

(b) the total number of sessions in that school year attended by the pupil; and

(c) the total number of the pupil's unauthorised absences in that school year.

4. The Departmental number and name of the old school[^F75 or first school ^F75] .

5. The Departmental number and name of the new school[^F76 or second school ^F76] .

6. —(1) The pupil's cumulative [^F77 achievements in education which, subject to [^F78 sub-paragraphs (2) to (5) ^F78] , are ^F77] as follows—

(a) the results of the teacher assessment of the pupil's NC [^F79 standards ^F79] of attainment at the end of any key stage completed, excluding any such assessment in English at the end of the first key stage;

(b) the results of the teacher assessment of his NC attainment targets;

(c) where the pupil has not completed any key stage or is between key stages when he transfers school, the most recent assessment by the teacher of his NC [^F80 standards ^F80] of attainment, where any such assessments have been made;

(d) ^F81,F82 subject to sub-paragraph (2), the results of the NC tasks and NC tests taken by the pupil ..., by ... score;

(e) the age-standardised scores, derived from tables produced by the [^F83 Secretary of State ^F83] , where these have been applied;

(f) the NC test tiers, where appropriate;

^F84 (g) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

^F84 (h) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[^F85 (2) Paragraph 6(1)(d) shall not apply to the results of the NC tasks and NC tests taken by pupils at the end of the first key stage —

(a) where those pupils were not required to undertake those tasks and tests by virtue of their involvement in the Key Stage 1 assessment trial 2003/4 referred to in the 2004 document ; or

(b) where those pupils were at the end of the first key stage in the school year 2004/5 and thereafter. ^F85]

[^F86 (2A) Paragraphs 6(1)(a) and (b) do not apply in respect of teacher assessments carried out at the end of the first key stage, if the pupil was at the end of the first key stage in the school year 2023/24 or any later school year. ^F86]

[^F87 (3) [^F88 Subject to sub-paragraph (3A), in ^F88] the case of a pupil with special educational needs in the first key stage who—

(a) is working at a standard below the NC standards of attainment for the first key stage; and

(b) is engaged in the study of English reading, English writing or mathematics,

the pupil’s cumulative achievements in education at the end of the first key stage are the pre-key stage standards for key stage 1 achieved in each subject referred to in paragraph (b) that that pupil is studying.

[^F89 (3A) Paragraph 6(3) does not apply if the pupil was at the end of the first key stage in the school year 2023/24 or any later school year. ^F89]

(4) In the case of a pupil with special educational needs in the second key stage who—

(a) is working at a standard below the NC standards of attainment for the second key stage; and

(b) is engaged in the study of English reading, English writing or mathematics,

the pupil’s cumulative achievements in education at the end of the second key stage are the pre-key stage standards for key stage 2 achieved in each subject referred to in paragraph (b) that that pupil is studying.

(5) Sub-paragraphs (1) to (4) of this paragraph do not apply in the case of a pupil with special educational needs in the relevant key stage who—

(a) is working at a standard below the NC standards of attainment for the relevant key stage; and

(b) is not engaged in the study of English reading, English writing or mathematics. ^F87]

[^F90 7. In the case of a pupil with special educational needs in [^F91 the second key stage ^F91] who—

(a) is working at a standard below the NC standards of attainment for [^F91 the second key stage ^F91] ; and

(b) is not engaged in the study of English reading, English writing or mathematics,

whether the engagement model is being used for the purposes of specifying the achievements and progress of that pupil in the areas of engagement identified in the engagement model at the end of [^F91 the second key stage ^F91] . ^F90]