"NFER gives us the consistency and robustness we need across the Trust" - Prestolee Multi Academy Trust

We spoke with Alex Keane, Head of Educational Standards & Improvement at Prestolee Multi Academy Trust, to understand how NFER Assessments support consistency, high‑quality data, and strong foundations across the Trust’s nine primary schools.

Before adopting NFER, schools within the Trust were using a mix of assessment approaches, making it difficult to compare outcomes.  Alex was introduced to NFER through local headteacher networks.  

"We were comparing apples with pears with the mix of assessments used in schools, so we really needed a test to agree on. NFER’s standardised scoring gave us meaningful thresholds to compare in the gap analysis tool." 

The Trust now benefits from a unified assessment model that provides robust, comparable data at a pupil, class and school level. 

"[NFER Tests] were very much preparing [the pupils] for the SATs. The reading particularly is quite ambitious."

Supporting early foundations with year 1 assessments

A strong theme in Prestolee’s approach is the value of early, high quality assessment in Key Stage 1, particularly in Year 1. 

Prestolee has found that early testing plays an essential role in avoiding a drop in progress at the start of Year 2 when pupils would face higher expectations in reading and comprehension. 

“It helped us to start preparing children with the comprehension side of things in Year 1, that’s really important.” 

By identifying those gaps earlier, teachers can put targeted support in place before the gaps are able to widen. 

Using NFER analysis to strengthen teaching

Prestolee MAT makes extensive use of the NFER Tests Analysis Tool at class, school and Trust level. Teachers use question‑level insights to prepare for pupil progress meetings, identify misconceptions and refine teaching. 

"It’s useful as a diagnostic tool. It helps teachers think about what they know and what they don’t know."

High‑quality data literacy is an important part of the Trust’s culture, and Alex provides training and guidance to help them make the most of the insights: 

"Support and training is essential to make sure staff are confident that they're making best use of the reporting and looking at the most valuable parts of data."

Easy implementation and reduced teacher workload

Rolling out NFER across all nine schools was straightforward. Teachers valued the ready-printed materials, clear instructions and ease of administration. 

"It was smooth rollout with really good support from an admin point of view. Teachers particularly valued the ready-printed materials with no need to photocopy."

"It was also easy to get data into other tracking systems as it can be easily extracted into Excel." 

Advice for other schools

Alex encourages schools to look closely at the papers and to consider the long‑term benefits of assessing from an early stage. Early assessment is not about testing for testing’s sake, but about building secure foundations that will support pupils throughout their primary education. 

"[Using NFER Tests] is about preparing children in the best way possible. It’s not all about the test, but the reality is that’s how they’re assessed at Year 6. If we don’t assess those strong foundations from a very young age, then the gaps will be quite large."

"You would expect to see progress at each point in time. It's a really useful way to look at what children know and what they don’t know." 

Find out more 

Visit the NFER Tests page for more information on using paper assessments in your school or MAT.