Test specifications - Reading

Modified on Fri, 15 Aug at 2:56 PM

Each test is developed to a test specification which sets out the requirements for the number of marks, curriculum coverage, question types and level of difficulty. This ensures the overall assessment is an accurate reflection of the Programme of Study and that there is consistency across each year group.

The Year 3, 4 and 5 Reading assessments consist of two tests – Test 1 and Test 2. The tests are taken in order, and learners have up to 45 minutes to complete each one. In each test there are two texts – one fiction and one non-fiction. After learners have read a text, they are directed to answer a set of questions related to each text. The Year 6 Reading assessments consist of a single test comprised of three reading texts. Learners have up to 60 minutes to complete the test.

The tables below summarise the test specifications. See Curriculum Areas and Codes – Reading for a breakdown of the content domain assessed in the tests.

Year 3 Specifications – by number of marks

Test Specifications	Autumn		Spring		Summer
	T1	T2	T1	T2	T1	T2
Question types
Closed e.g. multiple choice, multiple choices, matching, ordering	19	20	19	19	19	18
Open e.g. text entry, extended text	6	5	6	6	6	7
Number of marks
1-mark questions	21	17	21	19	21	19
2-mark questions	4	8	4	6	4	6
Scoring
Autoscored	19	20	19	19	19	18
Teacher marked	6	5	6	6	6	7
Curriculum coverage
2a	3	6	3	2	4	3
2b	16	4	10	10	9	8
2c	1	2	1	0	2	3
2d	3	9	8	6	7	10
2e	2	2	0	0	0	0
2f	0	1	1	2	1	0
2g	0	0	0	3	0	0
2h	0	1	2	2	2	1
Total Marks in each Test	25	25	25	25	25	25

Year 3 Specifications – percentage coverage (%)

Test Specifications	Autumn		Spring		Summer
	T1	T2	T1	T2	T1	T2
Question types
Closed e.g. multiple choice, multiple choices, matching, ordering	76	80	76	76	76	72
Open e.g. text entry, extended text	24	20	24	24	24	28
Number of marks
1-mark questions	84	68	84	76	84	76
2-mark questions	16	32	16	24	16	24
Scoring
Autoscored	76	80	76	76	76	72
Teacher marked	24	20	24	24	24	28
Curriculum coverage
2a	12	24	12	8	16	12
2b	64	16	44	40	36	32
2c	4	8	4	0	8	12
2d	12	36	28	24	28	40
2e	8	8	0	0	0	0
2f	0	4	4	8	4	0
2g	0	0	0	12	0	0
2h	0	4	8	8	8	4
Total Percentage in each Test	100	100	100	100	100	100

Year 4 Specifications – by number of marks

Test Specifications	Autumn		Spring		Summer
	T1	T2	T1	T2	T1	T2
Question types
Closed e.g. multiple choice, multiple choices, matching, ordering	19	20	22	19	22	19
Open e.g. text entry, extended text	9	7	6	8	6	8
Number of marks
1-mark questions	22	19	16	19	24	21
2-mark questions	6	8	12	8	4	6
Scoring
Autoscored	19	20	22	19	22	19
Teacher marked	9	7	6	8	6	8
Curriculum coverage
2a	4	1	3	2	3	3
2b	12	13	7	6	11	2
2c	2	1	1	1	1	2
2d	7	7	11	13	8	13
2e	0	0	2	1	3	1
2f	0	2	2	0	2	2
2g	1	1	2	2	0	2
2h	2	2	0	2	0	2
Total Marks in each Test	28	27	28	27	28	27

Year 4 Specifications – percentage coverage (%)

Test Specifications	Autumn		Spring		Summer
	T1	T2	T1	T2	T1	T2
Question types
Closed e.g. multiple choice, multiple choices, matching, ordering	68	74	79	70	79	70
Open e.g. text entry, extended text	32	26	21	30	21	30
Number of marks
1-mark questions	79	70	57	70	86	78
2-mark questions	21	30	43	30	14	22
Scoring
Autoscored	68	74	79	70	79	70
Teacher marked	32	26	21	30	21
Curriculum coverage
2a	14	4	11	7	11	11
2b	43	48	25	22	39	7
2c	7	4	4	4	4	7
2d	25	26	39	48	29	48
2e	0	0	7	4	11	4
2f	0	7	7	0	7	7
2g	4	4	7	7	0	7
2h	7	7	0	7	0	7
Total Percentage in each Test	100	100	100	100	100	100

Year 5 Specifications - by number of marks

Test Specifications	Autumn
	T1	T2
Question types
Closed eg multiple choice, multiple choices, matching, ordering	22	20
Open eg text entry, extended text	8	10
Number of marks
1 mark questions	21	22
2 mark questions	6	8
3 mark questions	3	0
Scoring
Autoscored	22	20
Teacher marked	8	10
Curriculum coverage
2a	5	1
2b	6	12
2c	3	2
2d	11	9
2e	2	0
2f	1	3
2g	2	3
2h	0	0
Total Marks in each Test	30	30

Year 5 Specifications - percentage coverage (%)

Test Specifications	Autumn
	T1	T2
Question types
Closed eg multiple choice, multiple choices, matching, ordering	73	67
Open eg text entry, extended text	27	33
Number of marks
1 mark questions	70	73
2 mark questions	20	27
3 mark questions	10	0
Scoring
Autoscored	73	67
Teacher marked	27	33
Curriculum coverage
2a	17	3
2b	20	40
2c	10	7
2d	37	30
2e	7	0
2f	3	10
2g	7	10
2h	0	0
Total Marks in each Test	100*	100

*Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number so many not add to 100.

Year 6 Specifications - by number of marks

Test Specifications	Autumn
	T1
Question types
Closed eg multiple choice, multiple choices, matching, ordering	39
Open eg text entry, extended text	11
Number of marks
1 mark questions	39
2 mark questions	8
3 mark questions	3
Scoring
Autoscored	39
Teacher marked	11
Curriculum coverage
2a	7
2b	14
2c	3
2d	16
2e	0
2f	4
2g	3
2h	3
Total Marks in each Test	50

Year 6 Specifications - percentage coverage

Test Specifications	Autumn
	T1
Question types
Closed eg multiple choice, multiple choices, matching, ordering	78
Open eg text entry, extended text	22
Number of marks
1 mark questions	78
2 mark questions	16
3 mark questions	6
Scoring
Autoscored	78
Teacher marked	22
Curriculum coverage
2a	14
2b	28
2c
2d	32
2e	0
2f	8
2g	6
2h	6
Total Marks in each Test	100