Statutory guidance

Reception baseline assessment: assessment and reporting arrangements (ARA)

Arrangements for the statutory reception baseline assessment (RBA).

• From: Standards and Testing Agency
• Published: 1 April 2025
• Last updated: 24 July 2026
  Show all updates

  1. 24 July 2026

     Removed guidance for the academic year 2025 to 2026, as this has now ended.

  2. 18 May 2026

     Added guidance for the academic year 2026 to 2027.

  3. 1 April 2025

     First published.

Documents

2026 reception baseline assessment: assessment and reporting arrangements (ARA)

HTML

Details

This guidance sets out the statutory assessment and reporting requirements for the RBA.

It applies to the following schools with a reception cohort:

• maintained schools
• academies, including free schools
• special schools, including maintained  special schools and special academies
• Defence Children Services (DCS) schools  and settings

This guidance is for:

• all staff responsible for administering the RBA
• headteachers and senior leadership teams
• governors and trustees