Introducing EdPlace's Termly Benchmarking Assessments

Termly Benchmark Assessments are the latest type of dynamic assessments to be launched on the EdPlace platform in March 2021. The first of the series is the 'End of Term 2' (spring term) assessment which was launched to coincide with the Easter holidays. The Term 3 and 1 Benchmarks will be added in the next few weeks. To learn more about dynamic assessments in general and how they have been designed, please click here. 

What are Termly Benchmark Assessments and how do they work?

A big challenge throughout the academic year is monitoring a student's level of understanding, identifying if they are keeping up, and intervening effectively if they are falling a little behind their classmates. Our Termly Benchmarks have been created to do just this and provide you with the intel you need to help keep their learning on track throughout the school year. 

These assessments vary in length according to the age of your child or student. In Key Stage 1, there are 20 questions lasting approximately 10 minutes, in Key Stage 2 and 3 there are 30 questions lasting 15 minutes, and in Key Stage 4, there are 40 questions lasting 20 minutes. A timer has been added to offer further insight into your child or student’s performance but will not play any other role in their assessment. Your student will not be locked out or the activities close if they exceed the expected time, but this will be shared with you in their assessment report (more on this later!)

EdPlace's Termly Benchmarks will provide a snapshot of all the skills your child or student should have learnt at school in their last term, so we recommend completing this type of assessment at, or towards, the end of their current school term. This means that the Term 1 assessment is a great fit for around the Christmas holidays, Term 2 around the Easter holidays, and Term 3 when students are preparing to break up for the summer. Of course, you may find that there are other times of the year when they will also work well to support revision, consolidation or confidence-building. They can even be used at the start of a new term if you want to get the inside track on where your child or student may need support from you in their next couple of months of schooling. 

How do I know the assessment will cover what my child should know?

By using these Termly Benchmarks as a check-in at the end of each academic term, you can be sure to increase your visibility of your child or student’s progress and needs. The National Curriculum topics covered in these assessments exactly match what students learn at school and the level of understanding which a child is expected to reach in relation to their current age. As always at EdPlace, all our assessments have been created by subject-specialist, qualified teachers with a minimum of five years of classroom experience. Who is better placed than a teacher to support you in identifying what your child does and doesn’t know?

How do I know what my student should focus on after the assessment?

Once your child or student has completed a Termly Benchmark Assessment, you will automatically be sent a report of their results via email. There’s also a copy available of this in your account, found under the ‘Review Completed’ section (the number of new activities here is shown in blue):

The report shows your student’s overall score for the term of the year and subject they have undertaken, before breaking down their results by National Curriculum Objective, with a visual and numerical representation in the ‘Summary of Performance’:

You will also be informed if they completed the assessment within or outside the guide time. 

What’s next, once I know which areas my student needs more help with?

After reading the report and seeing the National Curriculum areas your child or student needs to brush up on, we have the next step covered too! With the help of EdPlace’s short National-Curriculum-aligned activities, you can create personalised practice tailored to your child or student’s needs. Simply assign activities within the National Curriculum area identified for focus and watch your their confidence and skills soar! Click here to watch the video.

How do I know this approach works?

The beauty of the Termly Benchmark Assessments is that they can be re-used at any point and the questions will change each time, therefore, you are always getting an accurate picture of your child or student’s progress across all areas of the National Curriculum, without the risk of memorisation or rote learning coming into play. 

After a half term, why not get your child or student to complete the termly benchmark assessment again and compare the results of the two assessments? That way you’ll clearly be able to see the progress they have made.

We’re confident that through our comprehensive resources you’ll have all the tools at your disposal to really support your child reach their full potential on EdPlace, at school and in life.