N AT I O N A L C U R R I C U L U M T E S T S 2 0 0 4

Implications for teaching and

learning from the 2004 tests
K E Y S TA G E 1

ENGLISH

National curriculum tests

Implications for teaching and learning from the 2004 tests
KEY STAGE 1 ENGLISH
These implications are derived from an analysis of how children performed in the 2004 tests. Further materials based on the analysis will be
available on the QCA website at www.qca.org.uk/tests from December 2004. These will include presentations for those working with teachers,
containing examples of childrens responses to test questions. The new materials replace the Standards reports that were published in previous
years. Statistical analyses will be available on the QCA website from January 2005.

Reading

Assessment focuses
The aspects of reading to be assessed are
childrens ability to:

Level 1 Level 2C
Help children to:
identify the main characters and what
they are doing in stories. (AF2)

AF1. use a range of strategies, including

accurate decoding of text, to read
for meaning;
AF2. understand, describe, select or retrieve
information, events of ideas from
texts and use quotation and reference
to text;
AF3. deduce, infer or interpret information,
events or ideas from texts;

Level 2C Level 2B
Help children to:
maintain meaning by making
connections between sentences; (AF2)
read accurately from text rather than
relying on memory or illustrations; (AF2)
begin to relate information from one
part of the text to that of another. (AF3)

AF4. identify and comment on the

structure and organisation of texts,
including grammatical and
presentational features at text level;
AF5. explain and comment on the writers
use of language, including
grammatical and literary features at
word and sentence level;
AF6. identify and comments on writers
purposes and viewpoints, and the
overall effect of the text on the
reader;
AF7. relate texts to their cultural and
historical contexts and literary
traditions.

Writing
Level 1 Level 2C
Help children to:
take a role, eg addressing and signing the invitation (Dear
George From the Dragon); (AF1)
expand ideas with some brief additional details (I got a box
and covered my box in paper); (AF1)
use an opening sentence or title to introduce an activity or
topic to the reader (Last week we went to a Garden Centre; In
the Park); (AF3)
use some correctly structured sentences to express ideas; (AF6)
understand how full stops and capital letters are used to
demarcate the beginning and end of sentences; (AF6)
sound and spell consonant blends, eg best. (AF8)

Level 2C Level 2B
Help children to:
provide the reader with sufficient information to understand
the activity or event; (AF2)
give some detail to expand information or develop context
(We put the dolly blue in the water and it made the clothes
whiter; We hope you can bring a magic gift); (AF1)
use past tense consistently when recounting events; (AF6)
use some simple time adverbials to structure chronological
writing, eg Then ... Next; (AF3)
choose adjectives to modify unspecific nouns, eg great time;
wild garden; different room; (AF7)
correctly demarcate some sentences using full stops and capital
letters; (AF6)
learn the spelling of high frequency words, eg water, three.
(AF8)

Assessment focuses
The aspects of writing to be
assessed are childrens ability
to:
AF1. write imaginative,
interesting and
thoughtful texts;
AF2. produce texts which are
appropriate to task,
reader and purpose;
AF3. organise and present
whole texts effectively,
sequencing and
structuring information,
ideas and events;
AF4. construct paragraphs and
use cohesion within and
between paragraphs;
AF5. vary sentences for clarity,
purpose and effect;
AF6. write with technical
accuracy of syntax and
punctuation in phrases,
clauses and sentences;
AF7. select appropriate and
effective vocabulary;
AF8. use correct spelling.

Level 2B Level 2A
Help children to:
recognise similar meanings when they
are expressed in different words or
phrases; (AF2)
search texts to retrieve specific details;
(AF2)
have an understanding of the overall
sense of a text; (AF3)
find reasons in the text to explain why;
(AF3)
begin to understand characters feelings
and actions in a story from what they say
and do. (AF3)
Level 2A Level 3+
Help children to:
understand and use contents and
glossary to support reading information
texts; (AF2/AF4)
make inferences about characters
actions in a story based on evidence from
the text; (AF3)
use context to work out the meanings of
unfamiliar words; (AF5)
identify the theme of a traditional story.
(AF6)

Level 2B Level 2A
Help children to:
include main stages in a recount of an activity and necessary
information for an invitation; (AF2)
add details that clarify the activity or describe the event (When
it was raining we went underneath the greens; Theres even a
pool outside you can come for a swim); (AF1)
in the recount use an opening sentence to introduce the
activity and a concluding statement to round it off (We made
buns ... They were very yummy.); (AF3)
begin to group together similar information, eg place, time,
date in an invitation; (AF3)
use a range of time adverbials to chronologically sequence
recounts, eg On Thursday First When we got there; (AF3)
vary action verbs, eg looked saw; (AF7)
select and use technical vocabulary appropriate to the activity;
(AF7)
use capital letters and full stops to accurately demarcate most
sentences; (AF6)
add common suffixes to nouns and verbs accurately,
eg brushes, called. (AF8)

Level 2A Level 3+
Help children to:
take a consistent viewpoint in writing, eg personal reaction to
an activity, invitation written in voice of story character (I went
on stilts and they were fun because they made me feel very
tall; It will seem like a feast to you but a snack to me); (AF1)
include details to add interest through explanation or description
(The dog was a specially trained type of dog); (AF1)
in the invitation, adopt a consistent writing style, eg formal
(All the ladies in the land are invited to a ball); (AF1)
use some expanded noun phrases and adverbials for economy
of expression (half of a birds nest); (AF1)
begin to use format to support organisation of writing, eg line
breaks for invitation conventions; (AF3)
use appropriate verb forms, eg past tense for recounting an
activity and modal forms for predictions; (AF6)
develop use of accurate sentence punctuation beyond full
stops and capital letters, eg commas in lists, colons after
invitation headings; (AF6)
spell a range of vowel digraphs and split digraphs accurately,
eg boil, scales, ready. (AF8)

EARLY YEARS

 Curriculum and Standards

Audience

Headteachers, class teachers and LEA assessment

coordinators

Circulation lists

Headteachers of schools with year 2 children and LEAs

Type

Information

Description

This leaflet provides information to teachers on the implications

for teaching and learning drawn from an analysis of childrens

NATIONAL
CURRICULUM
516

GCSE

GNVQ

performance in the 2004 national curriculum tests at key stage 1

Cross ref

Implications for teaching and learning presentations and other

resource materials will be available from December 2004 at

GCE A LEVEL

www.qca.org.uk/tests
Leaflets on the Implications for teaching and learning from all
the 2004 tests are available from QCA Publications

Action required

The purpose of this leaflet is to provide teachers with some

idea of the areas that they may wish to emphasise when
planning their teaching

Contact

Reporting standards team (020 7509 5530)

For school use

For further copies contact

QCA Publications, PO Box 29, Norwich NR3 1GN
Tel: 08700 606015; fax: 08700 606017
This leaflet is also available on the QCA website (www.qca.org.uk/tests)
Order ref: QCA/04/1341
ISBN: 1-85838-578-4

NVQ

OTHER
VOCATIONAL
QUALIFICATIONS