About the measure
Previous version(s)ⓘ
NFER Key Stage 1, 2 and Year 6 assessments are available.
Subject
Literacy
National Foundation for Educational Research Year 6 Assessments
Assessment screening
Subscalesⓘ
Reading, mathematics, grammar, punctuation and spelling papers for the autumn and spring terms.
Publisher
National Foundation for Educational Research
Test source
https://www.nfer.ac.uk/for-schools/products-services/nfer-tests/
Guidelines available?ⓘ
Yes
Norm-referenced scores
Yes
Age rangeⓘ
Year 6
Key Stage
Key Stage 2
UK standardisation sample
Yes
Publication date
2018
Re-norming date
N/a
Eligibility
Validity measures available?
Yes
Reliability measures available?
Yes
note whether shortlisted, and reasons why not if relevant
Shortlisted
Administration format
Additional information about what the test measures
Termly tests (twice per year) in maths, reading, spelling, punctuation and grammar that are closely aligned to national curriculum and test framework.
Are additional versions available?
Year 6 autumn and spring tests in reading, maths (3 papers), grammar, punctuation and spelling. (NB no Year 6 summer tests because this is when statutory assessments take place.) Note that termly Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 tests are also available.
Can subtests be administered in isolation?
The reading, maths scores, and grammar, punctuation and spelling scores are administered in separate tests, so these can be distinguished, but within a subject scores need to be combined across any subtests/scales for standardisation.
Administration Group Size
Small group, Whole class
Administration duration
Reading — 65 minutes including instructions.Grammar and punctuation test — 45 mins. Spelling test — 20 – 25 mins. Maths papers — arithmetic test, 45 mins, reasoning test 1 and 2, 45 – 50 mins.
Description of materials needed to administer test
Reading — Reading Stimulus Booklet and Answer Booklet, normal writing implement, eraser. Dictionaries and thesauruses should not be used. Grammar and Punctuation Booklet, Spelling Booklet, normal writing implement, eraser. Dictionaries and thesauruses should not be used. Maths — Arithmetic Test Booklet, Reasoning Test 1 and 2, normal writing implement, ruler. For test 1 and test 2, pupils should also have access to a mirror and a protractor or angle measurer. Do not supply pupils with other equipment or support materials such as calculators, clocks or number lines.
Any special testing conditions?
No
Response format
Response mode
Paper and Pencil
What device is required?
N/a
Question format
Mixed
Progress through questions
Flat
Assessor requirements
Is any prior knowledge/training/profession accreditation required for administration?
Not stated (no)
Is administration scripted?
N/a
Assessor requirements
Description of materials needed to score test
Teachers guide, Access to NFER Tests analysis tool (optional, can score manually).
Types and range of available scores
Raw scores, year/cohort standardised (<70 – >140), age standardised (<70 – >140). Questions have been mapped to the national curriculum and test framework. Age-related expectations on the national curriculum. Diagnostic commentary for some tests.
Score transformation for standard score
Age standardised/year cohort standardised
Age bands used for norming
1 month
Scoring procedures
Computer scoring with manual entry of responses from paper form, or simple manual scoring key — clerical skills required.
Automatised norming
Computerised/online (optional, can also be normed manually using Teacher Guide).
Construct Validity
Rating Construct
Does it reflect the multidimensionality of the subject?
Generic literacy and generic maths
Construct validity comments (and reference for source)
The teacher guides for the tests describe high face validity — questions have been mapped to the relevant national curriculum content domains that should have been covered in addition to some content introduced in earlier years. For reading, this is the Key Stage 2: English reading test framework, National Curriculum Programme of Study for reading. Each question is aligned to a specific area of the content domain. For spelling, punctuation and grammar this is aligned to the National Curriculum’s English Appendix 2: Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation. For maths, the arithmetic booklet assesses pupils’ ability to answer straightforward calculation questions. The demand of the questions is transparent and requires only manipulation of the numbers not consideration of the operation required. This booklet assesses only content from the number strands of the Key Stage 2 curriculum. There are two mathematical reasoning booklets (‘Test 1′ and ‘Test 2’). The questions require pupils to consider the method or operation they will use in answering. These booklets sample the entire mathematics curriculum content for Key Stage 2. Teacher guides do not present any statistical measures of validity. The technical report presents evidence that items are free from bias by examining Differential Item Functioning (DIF) analyses conducted for gender and EAL (performance was generally balanced on separate papers). Correlations with other measures and contrasted group validity have not been assessed.
Criterion Validity
Rating Criterion
Summarise available comparisons
The technical report (Centre for Assessment, 2019) indicates that predictive validity of NFER Year 6 tests was excellent. This was assessed by determining the correlation to the statutory KS2 test outcomes. Year 6 autumn and spring tests were standardised with the same pupils (except for attrition), who had also completed NFER Year 5 summer tests in the appropriate subject. Scores were then correlated with KS2 test raw scores. Correlations for between each set of tests in each subject are presented on p22 of the technical report. Pearson correlations between total scores on NFER tests taken at different time points and statutory KS2 tests: reading .77 – .79; maths, .75 – .83; grammar, punctuation and spelling, .77 – .86.
Reliability
Rating Reliability
Summarise available comparisons
Teacher guides do not present any information on reliability, however the technical report (Centre for Assessment, 2019) indicates good-excellent reliability of NFER Year 6 tests in several measures. Internal consistency was good-excellent; Cronbach’s alpha was reported as follows: Reading — autumn .92, spring .89; Maths — autumn .87 – .92, spring .88 – .93;Grammar, punctuation and spelling — autumn .95, Spring .93. Year 6 autumn and spring tests were standardised with the same pupils (except for attrition), who had also completed NFER Year 5 summer tests in the appropriate subject. Pearson correlations between total scores on NFER tests taken at different time points were high: reading .75 – .81; maths .83 – .90; grammar, punctuation and spelling .77 – .87.
Is the norm-derived population appropriate and free from bias?
Does the standardisation sample represent the target/general population well?
If any biases are noted in sampling, these will be indicated here.
Year 6 tests were standardised with a nationally representative stratified sample of schools from across England in 2018 – 2019 to match the time of year intended for use. Schools were stratified by KS2 overall performance band 2015, primary school type, school governance, region. Sample size is excellent (1500 – 2000 per test), but little information is given about demographics. However, there was a representative gender distribution.
Sources
Sources
Teacher guides and diagnostic guides — Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling — Year 6 Autumn, Spring. NFER Classroom. (2019a). Grammar, punctuation and spelling diagnostic guide: Year 6 Autumn. Slough, UK: National Foundation for Educational Research. NFER Classroom. (2019b). Grammar, punctuation and Spelling Diagnostic Guide: Year 6 Spring. Slough, UK: National Foundation for Educational Research. NFER Classroom. (2019c). Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling Teacher Guide: Year 6 Autumn. Slough, UK: National Foundation for Educational Research. NFER Classroom. (2019d). Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling Teacher Guide: Year 6 Spring. Slough, UK: National Foundation for Educational Research. Teacher guides and Diagnostic guides — Mathematics — Year 6 Autumn, Spring. NFER Classroom. (2019e). Maths Diagnostic Guide: Year 6 Autumn. Slough, UK: National Foundation for Educational Research. NFER Classroom. (2019f). Maths Diagnostic Guide: Year 6 Spring. Slough, UK: National Foundation for Educational Research. NFER Classroom. (2019g). Maths Teacher Guide: Year 6 Autumn. Slough, UK: National Foundation for Educational Research. NFER Classroom. (2019h). Maths Teacher Guide: Year 6 Spring. Slough, UK: National Foundation for Educational Research. Teacher guides and Diagnostic guides — Reading — Year 6 Autumn, SpringNFER Classroom. (2019i). Reading Diagnostic Guide: Year 6 Autumn. Slough, UK: National Foundation for Educational Research. NFER Classroom. (2019j). Reading Diagnostic Guide: Year 6 Spring. Slough, UK: National Foundation for Educational Research. NFER classroom. (2019k). Reading Teacher Guide: Year 6 Autumn. Slough, UK: National Foundation for Educational Research. NFER Classroom. (2019l). Reading Teacher Guide: Year 6 Spring. Slough, UK: National Foundation for Educational Research. Technical report — Centre for assessment. (2020). Technical information for NFER Tests in reading, mathematics and grammar, punctuation and spelling. Slough, UK: National Foundation for Educational Research.