National Reference Test Results Digest 2022
25 August 2022
Since its introduction in 2017, NFER has been contracted by Ofqual to develop, deliver and analyse the results of the National Reference Test (NRT) in English and maths.
The NRT is administered annually and shows if student performance in English and maths at GCSE level has changed from year-to-year. This year, around 13,000 Year 11 students from over 300 schools took part in the NRT. The 2022 NRT was able to return to its usual testing window and took place between 28 February and 11 March.
The NRT results are based on analysis of data from a nationally representative sample of secondary schools. This year the number of participating schools has returned to a pre-Covid-19 pandemic level.
The Results Digest provides summarised information of the key performance outcomes for 2022 and comparison with the performance in 2020 at each of the three grade boundaries. Furthermore, it includes more details on the performance of students taking part and the representativeness of the school sample.