NEW reading and numeracy tests are being rolled out across Wales by the Welsh Government for six-to 14-year-olds to try to raise standards.

SCHOOL pupils as young as six have been sitting national reading and numeracy tests over the past fortnight in an initiative which aims to improve standards in Wales.

It comes in the wake of five education departments across the country being placed into special measures, and ahead of a Welsh Government response to an indepth review into education, expected next month.

The United Kingdom ranks 20th in the world for reading – below France, Germany, Estonia, Iceland and the United States – and 22nd for mathematics, according to the international study PISA which every three years assesses 15-yearolds’ reading, maths and science skills from 34 countries.

As part of the Education Minister Leighton Andrews’ Improving Schools Plan, reading and numeracy tests for pupils in years 2 to 9 began in Wales on Wednesday, May 8.

The new standardised tests, developed and trialled by the National Foundation for Educational Research, have replaced commercially produced tests previously used by schools, where each school used a different set of exams.

The Welsh Government has said that, by tracking progress from the end of the Foundation Phase through to secondary education, the tests are designed to give teachers a clearer insight into a learner’s development and progress.

“This will allow them to identify strengths and areas for improvement and to intervene at an earlier stage if learners are falling behind,” said a Welsh Government spokesman.

The reading test includes a statutory ‘core’ test, and a set of optional test materials to further investigate learners’ strengths and areas where they need to develop.

The numeracy test will be split into two papers: procedures, and reasoning, the latter to be taken by pupils in May next year.

The procedural paper, which is to be taken this month, consists of a set of questions designed to assess basic, essential numeracy skills such as addition, multiplication and division.

Next year’s numerical reasoning paper will assess pupils’ ability to use the most effective procedure (or set of procedures) to find the solution to numeracy problems they are likely to encounter in their everyday lives.

The Welsh Government said the tests have been designed to be as flexible and as learner-friendly as possible, although the National Union of Teachers (NUT) in Wales has reported that some younger children are struggling to cope.

The Welsh Government insists that younger pupils can sit the numeracy and reading tests in shorter sessions, rather than for a continuous 60 minutes “if the school feels this would help them perform to their best of their ability”.

Alway Primary School head teacher Richard Hughes said pupils from years 2 to 6 will be sitting the tests.

“For some children it is water off a duck’s back. Others find it a bit stressful,” said Mr Hughes.

For Welsh-medium schools, pupils will take a reading test in Welsh only in years 2 and 3 but in both English and Welsh from Year 4 on.

Schools will have the option to use both tests in year 3 and pupils will take the numeracy test in either English or Welsh.

Parents and carers will get reports after the test which show how their child has done, something which will allow them to raise any “potential issues” with teachers at any early stage, the Welsh Government says.

Minister Mr Andrews says the PISA assessment and reports by Estyn, the Welsh education and training inspectorate, show literacy and numeracy standards in Welsh schools need to improve.

“Until now, schools have used their own tests to assess how learners are progressing,” said Mr Andrews. “Because schools have used different tests, there is no clear, national picture of how learners are really performing.

“We are now moving to a system of testing that is clear, consistent and rigorous and will help teachers to identify learners’ individual strengths and weaknesses and intervene earlier if they feel a learner is falling behind,” he said.

Unions like the NUT believe the tests will be used as a basis for banding primary schools next year.

In December 2012 secondary schools in Wales were placed in bands ranging from one (the best) to five (the worst). Mr Andrews said that, although preliminary work on a model for primary schools was being done, primary grading had been postponed until 2014.

A Welsh Government spokesman said any further use of data gleaned from the tests, such as in primary school grading, is under consideration.

Special schools will not be ranked and Welsh-medium schools will not be ranked separately.

The minister insisted that the Welsh Government has considered the impact of the new tests on teachers and pupils and has looked at “all ways in which we can reduce additional workload”.

Extra costs of invigilating exams, marking and data entry will be met by a £700,000 support package for schools, he said.