Primary assessments general

Action: join our national curriculum assessment expert review panels

Get involved in the development of national curriculum assessments by joining one of our expert review panels.
 
Your professional expertise and insight will be instrumental in shaping future test content and enhancing pupils' test experiences nationwide – and it’s a great opportunity to expand your CPD portfolio.
 
We review assessment materials during a 3 to 4-year development process, in a series of external panels and trials in schools, to ensure they are fit for purpose.
 
We need professionals in education to join us approximately 2 to 4 days per year to provide feedback on the content of the key stage 1 (KS1) and key stage 2 (KS2) tests, phonics screening check and reception baseline assessment (RBA). We are interested in hearing from:

• teachers and senior teachers
• subject and assessment experts
• local authority or multi-academy trust advisors
• assessment leads
• initial teacher training providers

If you are interested in taking part, please take 5 minutes to send us your details using our expert review panel survey.
 
If you have any questions about becoming an expert review panellist, please contact us at STA.Expert@education.gov.uk.

 

Reminder: parent information leaflets updated for all assessments in the academic year 2026 to 2027                                                                                                                                                                                   All our parent information leaflets are updated for assessments in the academic year 2026 to 2027.

Information for parents is available to read online or download as a PDF leaflet, and explains:

• what parents need to know
• what each assessment involves
• when tests will take place
• how results will be shared and used 

You can find all leaflets in our collection of national curriculum assessments information for parents, covering the:

• RBA
• phonics screening check
• optional KS1 national curriculum tests
• multiplication tables check (MTC)
• KS2 national curriculum tests, results and teacher assessment
• pre-key stage standards
• engagement model 

We encourage you to share this information with parents and carers of pupils who are participating in the assessments this academic year.

 

Reception

Reminder: ensure your school’s devices are ready to administer the reception baseline assessment  It is important to ensure your school’s devices are prepared so that you can administer the RBA without disruption.

Schools need a minimum of 2 devices to administer the RBA:

• one device used by the practitioner to administer the assessment
• a touchscreen device used by the pupil to respond to questions

For both devices, you should ensure that:

• they are switched on, fully charged and in good working order
• the auto lock, hibernate and sleep mode features are disabled
• all devices have recently been updated with the latest operating system and browser version, and that there are no scheduled or automatic updates on the day of the assessment

If your devices are shared or centrally managed, you may need IT support to regularly update your devices.

Practitioners should also access the ‘Assessment service: start an assessment’ to:

• complete the new ‘Preparing devices’ training topic
• use ‘Preview the assessment’ to check your devices can pair and connect

Please also review the additional information on device requirements and useful troubleshooting information in our updated RBA IT guidance.

Reminder: administer the reception baseline assessment in the first 6 weeks of term
Schools must administer the RBA to all eligible pupils in the first 6 weeks after they enter reception. School staff involved in the administration of the RBA should use DfE Sign-in to access the assessment services.

Use the ‘Assessment service: manage your school’s assessments’ to:

• register pupils – you must upload all reception pupils, regardless of whether they go on to take the assessment
• record reasons for pupils not taking the assessment – where your headteacher has made this decision for specific pupils
• complete the headteacher’s declaration form (HDF)
• view and download narrative statements

Use the 'Assessment service: start an assessment' to prepare for administering the assessment by:

• completing training
• using ‘Preview the assessment’ to familiarise yourself with the assessment content
• viewing and managing accessibility settings

For more information:

• watch our video on managing pupils and administering assessments
• refer to our full collection of RBA guidance
• get further support in the RBA help centre

 
Schools must keep the RBA materials and content secure and confidential at all times to maintain the integrity, security and confidentiality of the assessment. You must not use the materials for any purpose other than administering the assessment and you must not discuss assessment content publicly, including on social media or online.
 
Please also tell us about your experience of using the RBA service by completing our RBA feedback survey.

 

Key Stage 1 

Publication: optional KS1 teacher assessment guidance updated for 2027                                                On Monday 14 September, we updated the optional KS1 teacher assessment guidance.

This is available to support schools that choose to carry out optional teacher assessment at the end of KS1 in the academic year 2026 to 2027. It also provides information to help with internal moderation of KS1 teacher assessment.

 

Key Stage 2 

Publication: KS2 teacher assessment guidance updated for 2027
On Monday 14 September, we published the statutory 2027 KS2 teacher assessment guidance. 
 
This guidance supports schools in making statutory teacher assessment judgements at the end of KS2 in the academic year 2026 to 2027. It also informs schools and local authorities of the requirements related to external moderation of these judgements.

Local authorities that wish to add a full list of important teacher assessment, standardisation and moderation dates to their calendar can download the KS2 teacher assessment and moderation calendar 2026 to 2027.

 

Reminder: complete the 2026 KS2 September checking exercise by Friday 18 September                          The 2026 KS2 September checking exercise opened for schools on Monday 7 September and will close at 5pm on Friday 18 September.

Schools should check their data for the academic year 2025 to 2026 and, if necessary, request any pupil removals by 5pm on Friday 18 September.

You can find more information and guidance on the Check Your Performance Measures Data (CYPMD) Help Centre. 

 

Reminder: download your 2026 multiplication tables check results by Friday 25 September            Pupils’ 2026 MTC results are still available to view and download in the ‘View pupil results’ section of the MTC service until Friday 25 September.
 
After this date, the MTC service will close. It will reopen on Monday 26 April 2027.
 
Schools can download a common transfer file (CTF) containing their MTC results and upload this into their management information system (MIS).

 

Reminder: 2026 KS2 test marking and clerical review outcomes will be available on Wednesday 30 September                                                                                                                                                              Applications for reviews of pupils’ 2026 KS2 test results closed on Monday 7 September.

We will confirm the outcome of all review applications on the ‘KS2 review results and outcomes’ tab within the ‘Key stage 2 test results and outcomes’ page on the NCA Portal on Wednesday 30 September.

Outcomes of marking and clerical reviews will not be included in the September checking exercise, but will be reflected in the revised school-level data published in December.

For more information, please refer to our guidance on applying for a review of KS2 test results.