Becta: All UK secondary school pupil reports must be online by September

Becta, the government technology agency, has ordered all English secondary schools to put their pupil reports online for the start of the next full academic year in September.

The initiative is to help parental support for their children's education, says the body, which also wants all primary school children similarly catered for by the end of 2012.

Online reporting makes it easier for parents to regularly keep in touch with their children’s education without adding hugely to teacher work load, argues the body.

“Through online reporting, parents can share what their children are learning, and how they're doing. Schools benefit from more involvement from parents, and if children feel they are getting the right support from their schools and families, grades go up,” its executive director Niel McLean told The Guardian.

The agency – which recently had its budget cut by 40% – says the move shouldn't add extra cost to schools as they simply have to give  parents passwords to access the information in the education packages they already have, but that may be less easy to do in practice, worry critics.

The agency ultimately wants all schools to integrate the online reports into virtual learning environments so parents can closely follow what their children are doing in the classroom.