National standards data provided by schools is too "ropey" to show parents how well a school is doing in reading, writing and maths and may not be released this year, the Prime Minister says.
Data the Ministry of Education had received from schools was "patchy", making it difficult to create anything coherent for parents and needed more time, John Key said at a post-Cabinet press conference yesterday.
"This year, I think the data will be too ropey," he said.
The National Government introduced the national standards policy during its first term in office.
Mr Key said the Minister of Education told him data was not up to scratch - "it's extremely patchy and in different formats and that will make it very difficult to interpret - but over time the Government hopes it will be more consistent because the purpose of having information is to give parents a better sense of how their school is performing".