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National curriculum assessments: test and assessment frameworks

Guidance for test developers working on national curriculum assessments for primary schools.

Updates to this page

From:
Standards and Testing Agency
Published:
31 March 2014
Last updated:
7 September 2026
Show all updates

  1. Updated to ensure all links to handbooks and frameworks for assessments in primary schools are included for test developers, including the new reception baseline assessment development handbook.

  2. Final test framework documents added to the collection

  3. Corrected the date when the final frameworks will be published.

  4. First published.

Following the publication of the Curriculum and Assessment Review Final Report and the associated government response in November 2025, future assessment arrangements are under review in line with the relevant recommendations. Assessment arrangements for the academic year 2026 to 2027 will remain unchanged.

The handbooks, validity frameworks, and test and assessment frameworks in this collection are written primarily for test developers; they will be used by item writing agencies and the Standards and Testing Agency throughout the development process for assessments.

Teachers should not use this guidance to guide teaching and learning. It does not provide information on how the national curriculum should be taught.

Reception

Key stage 1

Key stage 2

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