The five papers in this collection consider a range of important issues in relation to the English national curriculum assessment system (NCA). In responding to these articles, Jannette Elwood considers some of the issues the authors have raised generally in relation to a revised English NCA, but also more specifically she considers them from a Northern Ireland perspective in relation to a new revised curriculum and assessment programme that is being rolled out into schools since September 2007. (Contains 5 notes.)