National curriculum assessments: monitoring and moderation agreements

Statutory requirements 

This guidance expands on the statutory:

• phonics screening check assessment and reporting arrangements
• key stage 2 (KS2) assessment and reporting arrangements
• KS2 teacher assessment guidance

Local authorities, academies and participating independent schools must put in place monitoring and moderation agreements for the national curriculum assessments each year. Their individual responsibilities are outlined below.

Changes in the academic year 2025 to 2026

On Tuesday 23 September, the new National Curriculum Assessments Portal (NCA Portal) went live.

From the academic year 2025 to 2026 onwards:

• academies and participating independent schools will confirm their local authority monitoring and moderation agreements on the NCA Portal
• local authorities will approve or reject monitoring and moderation agreements on the NCA Portal, based on whether a written agreement is in place
• users can check the status and due dates for these activities in the ‘Dashboard’ section of the NCA Portal

Local authorities

Local authorities are responsible for ensuring academies within their geographic area have an agreement in place for:

• monitoring the phonics screening check
• monitoring the KS2 tests
• moderation of KS2 teacher assessment

Local authorities may also put in place monitoring and moderation agreements with non-geographic academies or participating independent schools. Where this is the case, local authorities must ensure that agreements are in place before the deadlines outlined in the Important dates.

Local authorities are required to approve all agreements in place with non-geographic academies and participating independent schools on the NCA Portal. When a local authority receives an email notification that a school has submitted a request for approval, they should:

• review the request using the ‘Approve monitoring and moderation agreement requests’ form in the ‘Activities’ section of the NCA Portal
• approve or reject requests from participating independent schools by Friday 5 December 2025
• approve or reject requests from academies by Friday 9 January 2026

Local authorities should only grant approval where there is a written agreement in place. If a non-geographic academy or participating independent school nominates a local authority for monitoring or moderation activities without a written agreement in place, the local authority must discuss this with them. If the local authority ultimately rejects the nomination on the NCA Portal, they must explain why they could not reach an agreement.

Local authorities will also have access to a report on the NCA Portal, detailing the:

• academies and independent schools that have selected them for moderation
• academies in their geographic area that have selected an alternative, non-geographic local authority for moderation

Local authorities must review this information and report any inaccuracies by the related deadline to the national curriculum assessments helpline:

Academies   

Academies must put in place a written agreement with their chosen local authority for:

• monitoring the phonics screening check
• monitoring the KS2 tests
• moderation of KS2 teacher assessment

If academies choose their geographic local authority, they do not need to confirm this.

If academies choose a non-geographic local authority, they must:  

• complete the ‘Submit local authority monitoring and moderation agreement requests’ form in the ‘Activities’ section of the NCA Portal by Friday 9 January 2026
• inform their geographic local authority, to ensure they are aware and can maintain correct records

If academies do not confirm that they have chosen a non-geographic local authority by the deadline, they will remain assigned to their geographic local authority on the NCA Portal.

Independent schools  

Participating independent schools must put in place a written agreement with their chosen local authority for:  

• monitoring the KS2 tests
• moderation of KS2 teacher assessment, if submitting data

All participating independent schools must confirm which local authority they have chosen by completing the ‘Submit local authority monitoring and moderation agreement requests’ form in the ‘Activities’ section of the NCA Portal by Friday 5 December 2025. 

If an independent school does not confirm their chosen local authority by the deadline, their KS2 test orders will be cancelled.

Important dates

Date	Action
Monday 13 October 2025	‘Submit local authority monitoring and moderation agreement requests’ form available for academies and participating independent schools on the NCA Portal
Monday 13 October 2025	‘Approve monitoring and moderation agreement requests’ form available for local authorities on the NCA Portal
Tuesday 14 October 2025	Report available for local authorities to review the academies and independent schools that have selected them for monitoring and moderation on the NCA Portal
Friday 5 December 2025	Deadline for participating independent schools to put in place monitoring and moderation agreements and confirm their chosen local authority on the NCA Portal
Friday 5 December 2025	Deadline for local authorities to approve all monitoring and moderation agreements in place with independent schools on the NCA Portal
Friday 9 January 2026	Deadline for all academies to put in place monitoring and moderation agreements
Friday 9 January 2026	Deadline for academies to confirm if they have chosen a non-geographic local authority for monitoring and moderation on the NCA Portal
Friday 9 January 2026	Deadline for local authorities to approve all monitoring and moderation agreements in place with academies on the NCA Portal
Friday 30 January 2026	Deadline for local authorities to report any inaccuracies within their final list of schools for monitoring and moderation to the national curriculum assessments helpline