What is being assessed?

Scottish National Standardised Assessments focus on aspects of reading, writing and numeracy. 

Who is being assessed?

Children and young people in P1, P4, P7 and S3.

When will the Scottish National Standardised Assessments be available?

The assessments have been available since August 2017.

When will children be assessed?

They will be assessed once in each of the relevant school years, but you, in consultation with your school and local authority, will decide when within that year is the most appropriate time. The assessments may be carried out:

• at the start of the school year or midway through, so you can understand how individual children are progressing in aspects of literacy and numeracy, and plan next steps in learning with your class.

• at the end of the school year to help inform your judgements of whether individual children have achieved the Curriculum for Excellence level relevant to their stage. The results of each child’s assessment should be shared with their next year’s teacher, so that future learning can be planned.

How will children be assessed?

The Scottish National Standardised Assessments are delivered online and automatically marked through the online system. For teachers and school leaders Scottish National Standardised Assessments provide an objective and comparable measure of children's progress in aspects of reading, writing and numeracy.

How many times will children and young people take the assessments in a school session?

P1 children will take two SNSA assessments: one in literacy and one in numeracy. P4 children will take three SNSA assessments: one in reading, one in writing and one in numeracy. P7 children will take three SNSA assessments: one in reading, one in writing and one in numeracy. S3 young people will take three SNSA assessments: one in reading, one in writing and one in numeracy.

How long will the assessments take?

The assessments are as short as possible and age and stage appropriate. There is no absolute maximum time set, to ensure that no child feels any unnecessary time pressure when undertaking the assessments. Most children should require no more than 45 minutes to complete each assessment.

What will the assessments consist of?

The Scottish National Standardised Assessments are adaptive and establish children’s capacity without them having to face lots of questions that are too easy, or too difficult. Assessment questions change based on how well a child is doing. If a child is struggling, the questions will get easier, and if a child is doing well, the questions will become more challenging.

What does this mean for you?

The assessments should be part of normal learning activities for children and young people. You will need to think about how you manage them within your classroom and how you ensure that children and young people understand that the standardised assessments are just one part of the broader approach to assessment within Scottish schools.

How will this affect how you teach?

The diagnostic advice from the assessments provide insight into how you might plan your teaching to meet children’s needs. There should be no additional workload for teachers or children. The assessments are as inclusive as possible to accommodate the needs of children and young people who require additional support.

What does this mean for your children and young people?

Children and young people do not have to revise or prepare for these assessments. The assessments aim to be as inclusive as possible to accommodate the needs of children and young people who require additional support.

Your professional judgement is key in measuring a child’s progress. Scottish National Standardised Assessments data will contribute to a complete and balanced picture of how children are progressing, giving you some of the diagnostic information you need to support every child to succeed. The assessments should not be used in isolation and should not be viewed as a replacement for the ongoing assessment of children's progress that is central to Curriculum for Excellence. Designing the assessments in line with Curriculum for Excellence helps ensure that daily classroom learning is all the preparation a child or young person will need to take the assessments.

Can you access the assessments through Glow?

Yes, users with a Glow login can access the assessments directly when logged into Glow. For further information, see the SNSA login page.

Flexible training

A flexible training programme is available for the Scottish National Standardised Assessments. Teachers who are responsible for assessing P1, P4, P7 or S3, headteachers, local authority staff and Education Scotland staff will be offered tailored training through a mixture of online and face to face events as agreed at local authority level.

Training sessions

The training will take place in two phases. The first phase of training will provide information on Scottish National Standardised Assessments and focus on how to use the assessments.

The second phase will focus on the interpretation of data and the pedagogical aspects of using the assessments in the context of teachers’ professional judgement.

Sessions in the first phase of training will typically take no longer than one hour, including time for questions.

The first phase of sessions will provide an introduction to:

• What the standardised assessments are and why they are used
• Benefits for teachers of using standardised assessments
• Introduction to the Scottish National Standardised Assessments
• How Scottish National Standardised Assessments are adaptive
• The reports that are provided to teachers
• Basic interpretation of teacher reports
• Question and answer session
• Feedback

Sessions in the second phase of training will typically take about two hours, including time for questions, with additional materials available to delegates to follow up the session in their own establishment.

The second phase of training will provide an introduction to:

• Interpreting data to inform learning and teaching
• SNSA in the context of wider assessment
• Supporting professional judgement
• Standardisation
• Interpreting Individual, Group Diagnostic and Group Aggregate Reports
• Articulating SNSA outcomes with wider assessment evidence

There will also be sessions providing guidance for additional support needs.

Looking for the assessment system?

Login to the Scottish National Standardised Assessment system for a quick start guide, the staff menu, help content, and contact details for the SNSA service desk. 

Online training

All online training resources, which can be accessed at any time, are available within the assessment platform. These resources can be used to refresh knowledge after attending an event or to provide guidance for teachers unable to attend an event. Other training materials, such as FAQs and quick start guides, are available within the assessment platform.

Headteachers were invited to attend additional briefing sessions to learn more about Scottish National Standardised assessments in the context of teacher professional development. Further guidance relevant to local authorities and Education Scotland is also available.

SNSA Support Officers from SCHOLAR provide training and assistance for the Scottish National Standardised Asessments. A technical service desk is also available. 

Quick Start eModule

SCHOLAR has created a series of short videos that act as a “Quick Start” guide for teachers. These videos aim to familiarise teachers with the assessments by demonstrating how to access and assign them to children and young people. The clips present a step by step approach to allow teachers to use the materials in a way which suits their purposes. In addition to accessing and assigning assessments, there is guidance on how to access student login details, set up specific groups (or tags) and view practice assessments.

The Quick Start training is available on the Help section within the assessment platform.

Service desk

A service desk is available to all users of the Scottish National Standardised Assessments within the assessment system. The service desk is staffed from 0800-1800 Monday to Friday. Service Desk Operators will be able to answer your questions regarding the Scottish National Standardised Assessments.

Contact details for the service desk are available within the assessment system. You can also email the service desk at info@snsa.org.uk.