This project has been funded by the Nuffield Foundation, but the views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily the Foundation. Visit nuffieldfoundation.org

Sub-domain scores summarise performance across different areas of the curriculum (e.g. algebra, geometry), and schools can access them from the Key Stage 2 tests via the Department for Education’s Analyse School Performance tool. Yet the information provided is simply raw scores – percentage of correct responses to questions within each primary National Curriculum area – without any articulation of their reliability or uncertainty. There is consequently a risk that this information is misinterpreted by schools.

This report explores a psychometrically principled approach to producing Key Stage 2 mathematics sub-domain scores for eight separate areas of the National Curriculum, and investigates whether it is possible to produce scores that are genuinely useful to teachers and schools.

Estimating sub-domain scores within national assessments