The Department for Education’s Standards and Testing Agency (STA) has selected Capita to manage the administration, processing and support for all primary school national curriculum assessment (NCA) tests in England.

The six-year contract, covering the 2020 to 2024 test cycles, is worth approximately £109 million, with the new service starting in September 2019 following a phased implementation and transition from September 2018.

The award of this contract will see STA moving to a single-supplier model to oversee the delivery of NCA test operations. Capita will manage the end-to-end process for these services, which involves the printing, distribution, and collation of over 9 million test papers annually for key stage 1 and key stage 2 tests and the phonics screening check, as well as administering the marking of four million key stage 2 test papers annually.

According to Capita, its enhanced digital solution will provide 16,000 schools and 4,000 test markers with a new secure access portal, providing a more efficient service which will allow them to review the status of the test process, obtain results and update and download records in one place.

Jon Lewis, Chief Executive Officer, Capita, commented, “We look forward to using our technology and service management capabilities to identify and deliver efficiencies and improvements ensuring both value for money and a positive experience for schools across England.”

Capita recently won a contract for the Defence Fire and Rescue Project. The contract win was criticised as it comes at a time when the company was forced to borrow over £700 million after racking up losses of £513 million last year. In the same year, the company reported that underlying revenue declined by 4%. Capita also reported a £445.4 million gain on the disposal of the Capita Asset Services businesses.