National Tests / Arholiadau

National Reading and Numeracy Tests

Children in Year 2 to 9 sit national tests in reading and numeracy each year. It is really important that your child is in school in order to take the tests.

Until this year, all three tests (Reading, Procedural and Reasoning) have taken the form of a paper-copy. However, from this year “Online Personalised Assessments” will be phased in over a three-year period.

Please watch a short Welsh Government video which will explain this in more detail:

https://youtu.be/edtoLqaOmO4

For further information about Online Personalised Assessments, please visit the HWB website.

National Tests for 2018-2019

The paper-based National Reading and National Numeracy (Reasoning) tests will take place between Tuesday 7th May and Tuesday 14th May 2019. We kindly request that you make every effort to ensure your child is in school during this important period.

For more information about the tests, please read this guide: National Test Information for Parents 2019

National Reading Test

The reading tests are made up of short questions based on two or more texts. Some of the questions check how well the text has been understood, others aim to find out if children are able to make judgements about what they are reading. The children are allocated one hour to complete the test. Younger children will be given breaks during each section of the test.

The same reading test is taken by two year groups. Test A is taken by Years 2 and 3, Test B is taken by Years 4 and 5 and Test C is taken by Years 6 and 7.

National Numeracy (Procedural) Test

The procedural tests now take the form of “Online Personalised Assessments”. Children will therefore be allocated questions, the difficulty of which will be based on how they have answered previous questions. No child is therefore likely to complete exactly the same set of questions as another child.

National Numeracy (Reasoning) Test

The reasoning tests are year-group specific. They measure how well children are able to use their numeracy skills to solve everyday problems. The children are allocated 30 minutes to complete the test. Younger children will be given breaks during each section of the test.

Past Papers / Practice Questions

There is no need for your child to prepare for the tests at home. The tests are just one piece of evidence about your child’s skills. The best way to prepare your child is to make sure that they are not worried or anxious. Class teachers will provide children with example questions throughout the year so that the children become familiar with the layout and structure of questions etc. which should alleviate any worries they may have.

However, should you wish to work on anything extra with your child at home, past papers give a good indication of the type of work your child will be covering throughout the school year. Please find a selection of these below. The markscheme is provided at the end of each test.

Reading

Years 2 & 3 (1) Years 2 & 3 (2)

Years 4 & 5 (1) Years 4 & 5 (2)

Years 6 & 7 (1) Years 6 & 7 (2)

Numeracy – Procedural

Year 2 (1) Year 2 (2)

Year 3 (1) Year 3 (2)

Year 4 (1) Year 4 (2)

Year 5 (1) Year 5 (2)

Year 6 (1) Year 6 (2)

Numeracy – Reasoning

Year 2 (1)