Standardised Assessments

What are the Scottish National Standardised Assessments (SNSA)?

School children in P1, P4, P7 and S3 complete online standardised assessments in literacy and numeracy as part of everyday learning and teaching. The assessments help to identify children's progress, providing diagnostic information to support teachers' professional judgement.  The assessments are as inclusive as possible to accommodate the needs of children and young people who require additional support.

There is no pass or fail and children and young people do not have to revise or prepare for these assessments. In short, neither you or your child should be worried about the assessments. 

What does this mean for your child?

Children do not have to revise or prepare for these assessments. The assessments are used as part of routine teaching and learning to help teachers understand how well your child is progressing and to plan next steps.

The assessments are adaptive, which means that if a child is experiencing difficulty, the questions will get easier, and if a child is doing well, the questions will become more challenging. In this way, the assessments establish children's capacity without them having to face lots of questions that are too easy or too hard for them to answer. There is no pass or fail.

The assessments are as short as possible and are age and stage appropriate. There is no time limit. This is to ensure children do not feel unnecessary time pressure when undertaking the assessments. The majority of P1 learners will complete each assessment in less than 30 minutes, while on average P4 and P7 learners complete within 40 minutes. Your child will not be expected to take assessments covering reading, writing, and numeracy in one sitting.

Further information regarding Scottish National Standardised Assessments can be found online (opens new window). If you want to talk to a member of staff about the assessments then feel free to contact the school office.