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Life cycle of a test paper
Every test your child sits is prepared long in advance of the test date.
Designing the questions
Experts begin to develop test questions almost two and a half years before your child sits the tests. They make sure that:
- each year’s tests are of a similar standard to those of previous years
- the questions are relevant to the topics covered in the national curriculum
- the test will be fair for everyone.
About 18 months before your child takes the test, the questions are trialled by pupils in a small number of schools. This is the first pre-test. The questions are then revised and trialled a second time. This is the second pre-test. During these pre-tests any problems with the questions will be identified and corrected.
Once the questions are ready, the test papers are sent to print. All the test papers are printed at secure printers, like the ones that print GCSE and A level exam papers. This is to make sure that the questions that appear in the final paper are kept confidential.
Throughout the last two weeks of April around 10 million test papers are delivered to all key stage 2 and 3 schools across England. The test papers are then kept in secure storage areas until the day of the test. Teachers are not allowed to open the test papers in advance of the test day.
Marking the papers
Once your child has completed their key stage 1 tests and tasks, their test papers are marked by your child’s teacher. The test result is just one of the assessments used by the teacher to decide on a final teacher assessment level.
Once your child has taken their key stages 2 or 3 tests, the test papers are sent to external markers to be marked. The marker does not have any contact with the school.
Each test paper has a detailed mark scheme that sets out exactly how each test should be marked. The markers are given extensive training to make sure they can apply the mark scheme consistently and accurately. If a marker struggles to apply the mark scheme, they will either be given further training or will not mark any more test papers. There are also extensive checks throughout the process to make sure that your child is awarded the level that their work deserves.
All the marks and test papers are sent back to schools so that teachers can see where their pupils did well or need to improve in the future. This gives teachers a clear base from which to develop each pupil’s further learning.
Once the marking is complete, a meeting takes place to decide where to place the level thresholds (the minimum mark needed for each level). Because the questions in the test papers are changed each year, the threshold levels vary slightly each year. This is to make sure that the standard is the same each year. The level threshold meeting takes place in front of independent observers, such as the teaching unions, to make sure that the process is open and fair.
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) regulates the national curriculum tests to ensure that the test process is fair and that every pupil gets the level that their work deserves.
Results
After the results have been returned, the school will inform you about how your child is progressing at school. Teachers will report their teacher assessment level (their professional judgement on what level your child is working at) and, at key stage 2 and 3, the level that your child was awarded in the test.
If your child’s school feels that the mark scheme has not been applied properly, then they may decide to send the test papers back to be reviewed. If you are concerned about your child’s test results, speak to their teacher.