Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the digital content of the new Reception Baseline Assessment will include moving images.

The reception baseline assessment (RBA) is a short, interactive assessment of early mathematics, language, literacy and communication, administered by teachers with individual pupils. Its purpose is to provide baseline data for primary progress measures, which will show pupil progress from reception until the end of key stage 2. ​From September 2025, some digital elements will be included in the assessment, where the pupil can point or move items on a tablet or similar device. This will provide benefits including reduced workload for teachers and better support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, using the assessment’s built-in accessibility settings.

The digital elements of RBA have been in development since 2019, and subject to extensive trials with teachers and pupils using the standards and testing agency’s internationally recognised assessment development approach. This has included item validation trials in 2020, 2021 and 2023 involving 2,801 pupils across 277 schools, and a technical pre-test trial in 2022 where 2,406 assessments were completed across a nationally representative sample of 254 schools. In November and December 2024 a voluntary trial involving over 1,000 schools took place, and participating schools undertook key activities needed to administer the assessment, including completing a sample assessment with three pupils. Input from the trials and extensive review by early years experts and teachers, has helped shape the content and the digital platform to meet the needs of schools and pupils.

The revised RBA will remain interactive and play-based and retain the use of small toys and verbal responses for other questions. Pupils can respond verbally to on-screen questions if they do not wish to interact with the screen and a paper-based alternative is available where, this is more suitable for the pupil. One moving image is included in the assessment, but this can be made static by the teacher where this is more appropriate for the pupil.