Halterworth Primary: Levelling the playing field with NFER Online Assessments
For Halterworth Primary, the move to online assessment was driven by a desire to reduce workload and remove barriers that were preventing some pupils from fully demonstrating their understanding.
Teacher Sarah Turnbull-Ditlev, who has used NFER paper tests in previous year groups, said they wanted to try NFER Online Assessments for years 3 and 4 due to a combination of reducing workload and allowing those children who found writing more difficult the ability to access and ‘level the playing field.’
Removing barriers to assessment
One of the most powerful impacts of online assessment at Halterworth has been its ability to reduce overwhelm and build confidence – particularly for pupils who find writing or reading challenging.
‘The children of lower ability prefer it the most, because the barriers to their learning were completely evaporated.’
Rather than facing a full test booklet, pupils encounter one question at a time, making assessments feel more manageable.
‘They didn’t look at a whole book and think ‘I’m never going to get through that’ – they just took it a screen at a time. They’re not getting overwhelmed, they’re just looking at it in sections.’
Increasing engagement to improve outcomes
By removing these barriers, the school has seen a clear improvement in both engagement and attainment.
‘There’s that core group of children who would become disengaged, that have remained engaged throughout, and therefore their scores are higher. It raises the level of success because the barriers to learning have been taken away for some of our more vulnerable pupils.’
Sarah tells us how accessibility features, such as adjustable background colours, further support individual pupil needs.
‘Some children changed the colour of the screens because they wanted to get a background colour that was more appropriate for them.’
Reducing workload and improving focus for teachers
Alongside its inclusion benefits, NOA has significantly reduced teacher workload, particularly around marking.
‘Not having to do masses of marking means we can really focus on the higher level learning.’
Automated marking of lower-mark questions allows teachers to concentrate on more complex responses and deeper analysis.
‘You can focus on the real nitty-gritty when you’re marking.’
The platform also delivers instant insights, helping teachers quickly identify gaps and adapt teaching accordingly.
‘It was really good for analysing the gaps. We’ve been able to add extra lessons that are based on the gaps. I’ve found it really, really useful.’
'It was actually really easy'
Despite initial concerns, staff found the platform straightforward to set up and use.
‘It was really clear what steps that we needed to take.’
‘By the time we’d done it once, the children were all over it. They love doing it and they are able to log on themselves and get onto the programme really quickly.’
Advice for other schools
For Halterworth Primary, the benefits of online assessment are clear - particularly when it comes to inclusion and efficiency.
Sarah’s advice to other schools is to 'just do it – it saves time, and it raises the level of success.’
‘The analysis tools save so much time and give you the answers you’re looking for really quickly.’
By adopting NFER Online Assessments, Halterworth Primary has created a more inclusive assessment environment – one that enables all pupils to succeed while reducing workload and improving outcomes across the school.
Find out more
Visit the NFER Online Assessments page for more information on using NOA in your school or MAT.