There are now five statutory assessment points across the primary phase, and one – key stage 1 – that is no longer statutory but is ‘recommended’. Because of this seemingly ever-changing assessment landscape, it can be hard enough for teachers, let alone governors and parents, to keep up. This article aims to provide some key information on each of these important assessments. We hope that it’s useful.
The dates of primary Assessment are published here.
For context, the following table (correct for 2024/25 academic year) shows which assessments each year group has completed, which assessments were missed due to the pandemic, and which will be taken in the future.
Reception Baseline (RBa)
The reception baseline assessment is administered in the first half term of the reception year, when pupils are 4 or 5 years old. It is a short, one-to-one assessment involving a series of tasks, which seek to evaluate a pupil’s literacy and numeracy skills. Responses to each task are entered onto an online portal and stored by the Department for Education (DfE). Whilst teachers will know how many questions each pupil has answered correctly, they will not know the final score because tasks are weighted differently. The scores from the assessment are not published; instead schools receive a series of statements, which summarise pupils’ strengths and areas for development.
The main purpose of the assessment is to provide a baseline for the school’s key stage 2 (KS2) progress measures when pupils reach the end of year 6. Each pupil’s KS2 test score will be compared to the national average KS2 test score of pupils with the same start point (i.e. the same RBa score!). Here’s an example of how progress is calculated:
The maximum RBa score is 39. In our example, a pupil scores 22/39 in the RBa. Seven years later, they sit the KS2 tests and in the reading test they attain a score of 98 (which means that they have not met the expected standard score of 100). We, however, are interested in how this pupil’s KS2 result (98) compares to other pupils with the same RBa score. Let’s imagine that nationally, on average, pupils that scored 22/39 on the RBa scored 93 in the KS2 reading test. 93 therefore becomes the progress benchmark for this particular group of pupils, and our example pupil has clearly exceeded that by 5 points. Their progress score is therefore +5. This is done for all pupils that have both an RBa score and KS2 results.
Note that individual pupil progress scores are not published; they are averaged to calculate an overall progress score for the school cohort.
Further information about the Reception Baseline is available in the assessment framework document and the assessment and reporting arrangements. The DfE also publish guidance for parents.
Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP)
The foundation stage profile assessment is made at the end of the reception year and marks the culmination of the early years’ phase of education. It does not involve any tests; instead it is an observational assessment carried out in class, over time. The EYFSP involves assessments made against 17 Early Learning Goals grouped into 7 areas of learning as follows:
- Communication and Language: 1) Listening, Attention and Understanding, 2) Speaking
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development: 3) Self-Regulation, 4) Managing Self, 5) Building Relationships
- Physical Development: 6) Gross Motor Skills, 7) Fine Motor Skills
- Literacy: 8) Comprehension, 9) Word Reading, 10) Writing
- Mathematics: 11) Number, 12) Numerical Patterns
- Understanding The World: 13) Past and Present, 14) People, Culture and Communities, 15) The Natural World
- Expressive Arts and Design: 16) Creating with Materials, 17) Being Imaginative and Expressive
In each of the 17 goals, pupils are assessed as either emerging or meeting the expected level of development. A key measure is reaching a good level of development, which is defined as reaching the expected level in each of the goals relating to the areas underlined above.
The results of the assessment are reported to parents but no longer form part of a school’s accountability measures (i.e. the data has been removed from the Analyse School Performance (ASP) system and from Ofsted’s Inspection Data Summary Report (IDSR))
More information about the EYFSP can be found in the statutory framework.
Phonics Screening Check (PSC)
The phonics screening check, often referred to as the phonics test, takes place in June of year 1. Pupils that do not pass in year 1 will take the test again in June of year 2. Pupils attempt to decode (i.e. read out loud to a teacher) 40 words, 20 of which are ‘real’ and 20 of which are ‘alien’ (i.e. made up). The expected standard (pass mark) has been set at 32/40 since the assessment’s inception but could, in theory, change. The percentage of pupils reaching the expected standard in phonics at the end of year 1 and by the end of year 2 are key school accountability measures.
More information about the phonics screening check can be found in the Assessment and Reporting Arrangements. The DfE also produce a useful guide for parents.
Key Stage 1 (KS1)
Key Stage 1 tests became optional last year (2023/24 academic year) and many schools took advantage of this new-found freedom and opted out. The assessment, carried out at the end of year 2, involves a series of tests in reading; maths; and grammar, punctuation and spelling, the results of which were used to inform teacher assessments in reading, writing, maths and science. The DfE collected the teacher assessments in each subject; they did not collect the tests scores.
Teacher assessments in reading, writing and maths are as follows:
- EM: Engagement Model (working below the standards of the pre-key stage)
- PKS: Working at Pre-Key Stage Standards
- WTS: Working Towards the Expected Standard
- EXS: Working at the Expected Standard
- GDS: Working at Greater Depth within the Expected Standard
NB: in science, pupils either meet (EXS) or do not meet (HNM) the expected standard. There is no further classification.
The DfE collected teacher assessments for two purposes: to monitor KS1 standards and to provide a baseline for the key stage 2 progress measures. Because of the rollout of the reception baseline, KS1 data is no longer required to act as a baseline for progress measures and the assessment became optional for this reason.
Previously, schools had a statutory duty to report KS1 results to parents but now that the assessment is optional this is no longer the case. If the school continues to administer the assessment, they may choose to report the results, but it is not a requirement.
The percentage of pupils achieving the expected standard or higher in reading, writing and maths was a key performance measure until 2023/24, and is still of interest to those schools that continue to with these assessments.
More information on KS1 assessment is available in the teacher assessment frameworks and test administration guidance. Guidance for parents is also available.
Multiplication Tables Check (MTC)
The MTC takes place at the end of year 4. It involves pupils attempting to answer 25 multiplication tables questions via an online portal; they have 6 seconds to answer each question. Unlike the phonics screening check, there is no official pass mark but the expectation is that pupils answer all questions correctly. The percentage of pupils achieving full marks (25/25) is a key performance measure.
More information about the MTC can be found in the key stage 2 assessment and reporting arrangements. The DfE also produce guidance for parents.
Key Stage 2 (KS2)
KS2 assessment takes place in the summer term of year 6 and marks the end of the primary phase of education. Over the course of a week in May, year 6 pupils sit tests in reading (1 paper); grammar, punctuation and spelling (2 papers), and maths (3 papers). Unlike other primary school assessments, the test papers are collected and marked externally – much like GCSE exams – and schools receive the results in July. Test scores are in the range 80-120, with a score of 100 or higher indicating that the pupil has met the expected standard (a score of 110 or higher is classified as a ‘high score’). In addition, pupils receive a teacher assessment in writing and science, which are broadly in the same format as at KS1 (see KS1 list above). Pupils do not receive teacher assessments in reading and maths unless they are below the test standard, in which case they will be classified as pre-key stage (PKS).
Results of the tests and any accompanying teacher assessments must be reported to parents alongside an indication of whether the pupil has met expected standards in each subject. For schools, the percentage of pupils achieving expected standards or higher in reading, writing and maths are key measures. Progress measures are also key indicators of school performance but these have been interrupted by the pandemic: the current and previous year 6 cohorts do not have KS1 or RBa data and therefore have no start point for progress measures. Progress measures should return next when the current year 5 – who do have KS1 results – reach the end of KS2.
KS2 results are the only primary assessment outcomes that are made public. They are normally published in the DfE performance tables in December. Schools have a statutory duty to ensure that these results are published on their websites.
Further information on KS2 assessment, including key dates, can be found in the Assessment and Reporting Arrangements document and a range of test materials, including past papers, are available to download. The DfE produce two documents for parents, which provide information on the tests and the results.
Summary
There are six types of national assessment administered in primary schools. Five are statutory (RBa, EYFSP, PSC, MTC, and KS2) and one (KS1) is optional. With the exception of the EYFSP, the results of the statutory assessments are published in the ASP system and in Ofsted’s IDSR document, and are used to assess school standards and hold leadership to account. In addition, KS2 results are made available to the public via the DfE’s performance tables and school websites. With the exception of the RBa, the scores from which are not made available to schools, results from statutory assessments must be reported to parents. KS1 assessment is optional and therefore no longer used for accountability purposes. Those schools that are continuing with KS1 assessment may still report results to parents and can use the data to track standards internally and compare to other schools where data sharing is appropriate.
Leave a Reply