1. The Complainant made two requests of the SPA relating to:
a. Inspection reports for all Jersey secondary schools for the last two years (the First
Request); and
b. SATS exam results sat in 2017 by Year 6 children (the Second Request).
2. In respect of the First Request, the SPA withheld the requested information under Art.35 of the
Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 (the Law) on the basis that the SPA is currently in the
pilot phase of developing the ‘Jersey Schools Review Framework’ and that, accordingly, any school
reports (or other documentation) generated as part of that pilot scheme fall to be exempted from
disclosure.
The SPA undertook an internal review (IR1) and upheld the initial decision to withhold
the requested information by relying on Art.35 (formulation and development of policy). The SPA
briefly referenced the public interest test for the qualified exemption of Art.35 stating that
exemption was maintained in the circumstances.
3. In respect of the Second Request, the SPA withheld the requested information under Arts.23 and
35 of Law. The SPA indicated that the prime method of assessment in respect of Year 6 pupils in
Jersey is not ‘SATS’ (such apparently being an out of date UK reference), but rather locally led
Teacher Assessments, the results for which are published by each individual primary school.
The SPA also indicated that the method of assessing Year 6 pupils (which included some schools utilising
certain Key Stage 2 tests in place in England and Wales (E&W)) is currently under development. The
SPA undertook an internal review (IR2) and upheld the initial decision to withhold the requested
information. The SPA briefly referenced the public interest test for the qualified exemption of
Art.35 stating that exemption was maintained in the circumstances.
