Level Descriptions in the National Curriculum: what kind of criterion referencing is this?

The National Curriculum has, since its inception, been described as a criterion‐referenced assessment system, in which attainments are described in terms of statements about what pupils can do, rather than in terms of comparisons with other pupils. Since 1995, the structure of the National Curriculum assessment criteria has been changed to ‘level descriptions’, continuous prose paragraphs describing complex attainments. The theoretical underpinnings for this structure have not, however, been articulated. We adopt a framework for analysis, in which assessment is essentially referenced to an educational construct. Educational constructs are abstract and complex notions of valued educational outcomes. Derived from these constructs are assessment domains, which are more specific statements of what is to be assessed. A survey of the literature of the criterion‐referenced testing tradition reveals a range of approaches to defining these domains, varying from very precise behavioural specifications to broad descriptions of constructs. National Curriculum level descriptions denote broad and complex assessment domains, each of which includes a mixture of attainments with little intrinsic coherence. We conclude that coherence is to be imposed upon the level descriptions by teachers as they deliver the National Curriculum, in the light of their understanding of the underlying educational constructs.