Pearson has been selected by the UK Department for Education?s Standards and Testing Agency (STA) to manage the administration, processing and support for all primary school national curriculum assessment (NCA) tests in England. The contract runs for four years beginning from the academic year 2025/26. Pearson will deliver services to 16,500+ primary schools across the country for optional end of KS1 national curriculum assessments (NCAs), the end of KS2 national curriculum tests (sometimes known as SATs) and teacher assessments in English writing and science, as well as the phonics screening check.

These assessments measure pupil attainment in England through primary school from Year 1 through to Year 6. STA, an executive agency sponsored by the UK?s Department for Education, is responsible for the development and delivery of these tests and assessments.