Education Endowment Foundation:Year 5 science assessment

Year 5 science assessment

The Year 5 Science Assessment is a measure of Year 5 scientific ability, intended for pupils at the end of Year 5

The curriculum content and age-related expectations of the national science curriculum in England were updated with the introduction of the new National Curriculum in 2014.

As a result, science attainment measures used in previous EEF-funded trials were no longer fully reflective of current programmes of study in terms of content and challenge. Therefore, the EEF, with co-funding from the Wellcome Trust, commissioned the University of York (the Centre for Industry Education Collaboration and the York Trials Unit) to develop and evaluate a new science attainment measure to be used as a meaningful outcome measure in upcoming EEF-funded evaluations.

The Year 5 Science Assessment is a measure of Year 5 scientific ability, intended for pupils at the end of Year 5. The measure includes a balance of content from the Year 5 science curriculum in England, covering the different sciences (biology, physics, and chemistry), and elements of ​‘working scientifically’. ​‘Working scientifically’ refers to developing the understanding of the nature, processes, and methods of science by focusing on the key features of scientific enquiry.

The summary description of the Year 5 Science Assessment provides potential users with information about the content of the measure, how it is intended to be used, how it is administered and scored, and the psychometric properties (validity and reliability) of the measure. Any potential users are encouraged to review this summary description to determine whether the Year 5 Science Assessment is suitable for their purposes.

The accompanying report describes the process through which the measure was developed and evaluates the psychometric properties of the measure.

Year 5 science assessment summary

This resource will be emailed to you upon completion of the information request.

Development of a Year 5 Science assessment report

This resource will be emailed to you upon completion of the information request.

The measure was developed as an outcome measure for future trials and as a generic tool to measure the impact of other primary science initiatives across the country. The measure is not designed for the purpose of teacher assessment, to rank individual pupils, or to make high-stakes decisions about individual pupils.

For any questions or feedback on the assessment, please contact info@​eefoundation.​org.​uk.