Year 7, 8 and 9 learners will be expected to take part in the following assessments:
Pre Public Examinations (PPEs)
PPEs are examinations, internally set and marked, which are designed to give candidates experience of the examination process, as well as to identify areas of weakness in their knowledge and understanding. PPEs let learners practice revision strategies that are proven to be more helpful and discover what works best for them.
National Reading and Numeracy Tests
During the Spring and Summer term all eligible learners in Years 2-9 in Wales will take part in the national tests. The ‘National Tests’ comprise the National Numeracy Tests (Reasoning), the National Numeracy Personalised Assessments (Procedural), and the National Reading Personalised Assessments. The National Tests are for formative use so that teachers in all maintained schools have information on the reading and numeracy skills of their learners and a common understanding of strengths and areas for improvement in these skills.
Please note these are National compulsory tests and all eligible learners across Wales will be sitting the appropriate test for their year group.
We appreciate your ongoing support to ensure that your child attends school for these assessments.
In 2019/20 learners will take the National Numeracy Tests (Reasoning) on paper and the tests for Numeracy (Procedural) and Reading in the form of online adaptive assessments.
National Reading & Numeracy (Procedural)
In personalised or ‘adaptive’ assessments the literacy or numeracy questions are generated based on the learner’s response to the previous question. Video clips on the question types can be found by accessing the following link.
The personalised assessments are based on the skills set out in the National Literacy and Numeracy Framework (LNF). Details can be found in the following link
A learner who answers a question correctly will receive a question that is slightly more challenging; a learner who answers a question incorrectly will receive a slightly easier question. This process continues until the assessment system has covered the relevant aspects of the curriculum and gathered sufficient information on the learner’s responses. This provides an individual assessment experience and tailors the level of challenge for every learner.
National Reasoning Test
The reasoning test measures how well learners can use what they know to solve everyday problems.
Results
By the end of the summer term, you will be provided with the results for the National Reading and Numeracy Tests. The results should be read alongside your child’s annual report.
The tests provide two kinds of results, an age-standardised score and a progress measure. These two results are very different from results you may have come across in other situations, for example 9 out of 10 or 65%. The age-standardised score from the national tests tells you how well your child has done compared with other children of the same age (in years and months) taking the test at the same time.
The progress measure for the test shows how well your child has done compared to every other learner taking the test in his or her year group across Wales.
Further information:
For further information regarding the Literacy and Numeracy Framework please visit: https://hwb.gov.wales/draft-curriculum-for-wales-2022/reading-and-numeracy-assessments/personalised-assessments#more-information
Information for Parents and Carers of Children in Years 2 to 9