Statutory Assessment Information

Reception Baseline Assessment

The Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA) is a statutory assessment from September 2021 onwards. It provides a snapshot of where pupils are when they arrive at school. It will provide a starting point to measure the progress schools make with their pupils between reception and the end of primary school.

Your child will be participating in the reception baseline assessment (RBA) within the first 6 weeks of starting reception. The purpose of the assessment is to provide the starting point for a new measure that will help parents understand how well schools support their pupils to progress between reception and year 6 / the end of key stage 2.

What is the RBA?

The RBA is a short, interactive and practical assessment of your child’s early literacy, communication, language and mathematics skills when they begin school, using materials that most children of your child’s age will be familiar with. It is statutory for all schools from September 2021.

Its main purpose is to create a starting point to measure the progress schools make with their pupils.

For more information and to view the parent information guide on Reception Baseline Assessments click here.

Phonics Screening

The phonics screening check is a short, simple assessment to ensure that all pupils have learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard by the age of 6 years old. All Year 1 pupils in maintained schools, academies and free schools must complete the check. This is undertaken during the summer term

The phonics check is to support teachers in identifying the children who need extra help so they can receive the support they need to improve their reading skills. These pupils will then be able to retake the check in Year 2. If the pupil does not pass the phonics screening test for a second year they will not undertake the check in Year 3. The Year 3 class teachers however will be made aware of these children to provide additional phonics support.

The phonics screening check comprises a list of 40 words and non-words which the child will read in a one-to-one situation with a teacher.

The Multiplication Tables Check 

The Multiplication Tables Check (MTC) is a Key Stage 2 assessment to be taken by pupils at the end of year 4 (in June). The MTC was introduced for the 2019 / 2020 academic year however due to COVID-19 the first check will take place in June 2022. The purpose of the MTC is to make sure the pupils times tables knowledge is at the expected level. 

The MTC is an online test were the pupils are asked 25 questions on times tables 2 to 12. For every question you have 6 seconds to answer and in between the questions there is a 3 second rest. Questions about the 6, 7, 8, 9, and 12 times table come up more often. The questions are generated randomly based on the rules of the MTC. 

The children regularly undertake times table learning in class and Times Table Rock Stars reinforces this learning at home. Prior to undertaking the screener, the children will have the opportunity to undertake a practice so they are familiar with the organisation. The screener is similar to the Studio game on Times Table Rock Stars if you would like familiarise yourself.  

Key Stage 2

In Key Stage 2 SATs are undertaken in Year 6 and are more formal. They take place in May in a dedicated week and all tests must be administered on days specified in the statutory test timetable set by the Department for Education and Standards and Testing Agency. Year 6 will be taking their Key Stage 2 Statutory Assessment Tests (SATS) between Tuesday 9th-Friday 12th May (please note the change to the original dates due to an additional Bank Holiday this year to mark the King's Coronation), please see the timetable for more information:

Your child’s class teacher will also make a teacher assessment for writing and science. At the end of the summer term you will receive a report with your child’s test results and teacher assessment judgements.

How will the information be used?

The assessments are a way of making sure every child has mastered the basics when they leave primary education. The results help teachers to identify where children may need extra help or support as they move into year 7 and begin their secondary education. Your child’s individual results, for both tests and teacher assessment judgements, will not be published by either your child’s school or the Department for Education (DfE).

However, school-level results of pupils’ attainment and progress are published on the DfE’s school performance tables website.

What are the test results?

The school will report your child’s test results as a scaled score for each subject. A scaled score is created from the number of marks your child scores in a particular test. We use scaled scores to report the results of these tests to ensure we can make accurate comparisons of performance over time. At KS2 the range of scaled scores is 80 to 120.

 A scaled score:

• below 100 means that your child may need more support to help them reach the expected standard

• of 100 or more means that your child is working at, or above, the expected standard for the key stage

What are the teacher assessment judgements?

Your child’s teacher forms their judgements by assessing your child’s work against frameworks in English writing and science.

For English writing, the judgement shows if a pupil is:

 • working towards the expected standard

 • working at the expected standard

• working at greater depth within the expected standard.

For science the judgement shows if a pupil:

• has not met the expected standard

• is working at the expected standard

Do not worry if your child is not working at the expected standard. The results will help teachers identify where your child may need extra help. If you have any questions about your child’s results and what support they might need in secondary school, you should speak to their teacher.

As a school we ensure that SATs week is a calm and positive way to ensure that all children feel comfortable. All teachers endeavour to make this a stress free time and we ask that you support us with this.

Teacher assessment frameworks at the end of key stage 2