Assessing pupils who are working at the earliest stages of learning is rarely straightforward.
Over time, I became increasingly aware that different schools were using very different systems to assess pupils working below Year 1 expectations. Some used B Squared, some used the Birmingham Toolkit, some used Locke and Beech, and others had developed their own approaches.
Each of these systems may have value. The difficulty was not necessarily that schools were choosing the “wrong” framework. It was that the language, structure and expectations varied considerably from one setting to another.
This could make it difficult to build a consistent picture of progress, particularly when pupils moved between schools or when professionals from different settings were trying to discuss learning together.
I did not want to create yet another competing assessment framework. Instead, I wanted to explore whether several existing and freely available frameworks could be brought together in a simpler, more coherent way.
The result was an Early Skills Assessment Pack designed to support pupils from the earliest stages of engagement through to the beginnings of subject-specific learning.
The problem with assessment frameworks in isolation
There is no single assessment framework that does everything.
Some tools are designed to meet statutory requirements. Others provide detailed developmental pathways. Some are particularly useful for curriculum planning, while others offer a shared language for describing progress.
Problems can arise when one framework is expected to meet every purpose.
A broad statutory framework may not provide enough detail to identify the next small step in learning. A detailed developmental framework may be less useful once a pupil begins to demonstrate recognisable subject-specific skills. A curriculum-based system may begin at a point that is still too advanced for some learners.
The challenge, therefore, is not simply choosing the “best” assessment system. It is understanding what each framework contributes and how they might work together.
That was the starting point for this project.
Understanding the Engagement Model
The Engagement Model provides the statutory assessment framework in England for pupils who are not engaged in subject-specific study.
It focuses on how pupils engage with learning rather than measuring conventional academic outcomes. The five areas of engagement are:
- exploration;
- realisation;
- anticipation;
- persistence;
- initiation.
These areas help practitioners consider how a pupil encounters experiences, notices patterns, responds to familiar events, sustains attention and begins to act independently.
The model is particularly valuable because it moves assessment away from a narrow focus on task completion.
A pupil may not complete a conventional activity, but that does not mean learning is absent. They may show increased attention, anticipate what is about to happen, repeat an action to achieve an effect or initiate an interaction without prompting.
These can be small but highly significant changes.
The Engagement Model also encourages practitioners to think critically about the learning opportunities being provided. If a pupil is not engaging, the question should not only be, “What can the pupil do?” It should also be, “What might we need to change?”
The environment, sensory demands, communication support, positioning, adult interaction and choice of activity may all influence what the pupil is able to demonstrate.
However, while the Engagement Model provides an important overarching structure, I found that staff sometimes needed more developmental detail to help them interpret what they were observing and identify meaningful next steps.
Using Routes for Learning to notice small but significant progress
Routes for Learning provides a much more detailed picture of early cognitive development, communication and interaction.
It is organised around 12 themes:
- responding to stimuli;
- responding to people;
- responding to patterns in repetition;
- signalling preferences;
- keeping track of objects;
- acting on the physical environment;
- being sociable;
- changing focus;
- connecting actions with outcomes;
- acting to engage others;
- solving problems;
- choosing options.
These themes help practitioners look more closely at the small behaviours that may sit beneath the broader areas of the Engagement Model.
For example, initiation may be seen when a pupil deliberately attracts another person’s attention, begins a familiar social game or tries a different strategy when an earlier action has not worked.
Anticipation may be seen when a pupil responds to a familiar cue, expects a repeated event or begins to understand that a particular action will lead to a particular outcome.
Routes for Learning is especially valuable because it does not present development as a simple ladder.
Although the Routemap includes numbered boxes and key milestones, pupils are not expected to move through them in a fixed sequence. Development may be uneven, and different pathways may emerge depending on a pupil’s sensory, physical, communication and cognitive profile.
This matters because progress at the earliest stages is often non-linear.
A pupil may demonstrate relatively sophisticated skills in one context while showing much earlier responses in another. They may communicate clear preferences with familiar adults but show limited responses with unfamiliar people. They may understand cause and effect in a highly motivating activity but not yet transfer that understanding elsewhere.
Routes for Learning helps practitioners recognise this complexity rather than forcing progress into a single numerical sequence.
In the Early Skills Assessment Pack, I included Routes themes and descriptors so that practitioners could connect their observations to a more detailed developmental framework.
The aim was not to turn Routes for Learning into a checklist. It was to help staff identify patterns, clarify what they were seeing and make better-informed decisions about what to offer next.
Creating a shared language for progress
Identifying a skill is only part of the assessment process.
Practitioners also need to consider how securely that skill is demonstrated.
A behaviour observed once during a highly supported activity is not the same as a skill that is used independently, frequently and across a range of contexts.
To support this, the pack uses progress descriptors drawn from the AET/NEN Progression Framework:
- not yet developed;
- emerging;
- developing;
- often used;
- consistent.
These descriptors provide a shared language for discussing progress without reducing learning to a numerical score.
They also encourage practitioners to think more carefully about the quality of the evidence.
When deciding which descriptor is most appropriate, staff may need to consider:
- how frequently the behaviour is observed;
- whether it occurs spontaneously or after prompting;
- how much adult support is required;
- whether it is seen with different people;
- whether it transfers across activities or settings;
- whether it is maintained over time.
A skill may be emerging because it has appeared occasionally in a familiar context. It may be developing because it is becoming more frequent but still requires support. It may be consistent when the pupil demonstrates it reliably and with increasing independence.
The descriptor is therefore only meaningful when it is supported by clear observational evidence.
This also creates opportunities for useful professional dialogue.
Two adults may initially interpret the same behaviour differently. Comparing observations, reviewing video evidence or discussing the conditions in which the skill appeared can help teams reach a more considered judgement.
The purpose is not to achieve artificial precision. It is to create a shared and defensible understanding of the pupil’s learning.
From engagement to subject-specific learning
One of the most difficult assessment points occurs when a pupil begins to move from non-subject-specific learning into recognisable reading, writing or mathematical development.
The Engagement Model is intended for pupils who are not yet engaged in subject-specific study. Once pupils begin to demonstrate subject-specific learning, they require a different form of assessment.
However, moving immediately to ordinary Year 1 expectations may create another gap.
A pupil may be beginning to demonstrate important literacy or mathematical skills while still working well below the expectations typically associated with the national curriculum.
To create greater continuity, I added reading, writing and mathematics assessment grids based on the pre-key stage standards.
The aim was to provide a bridge between early engagement and more recognisable subject-specific learning.
In reading, this might include the development of attention to stories, recognition of familiar symbols or words, early phonological awareness and emerging comprehension.
In writing, it might include intentional mark-making, communication through symbols, early letter formation and the gradual development of written meaning.
In mathematics, it might include early awareness of quantity, matching, pattern, comparison, shape and the use of number in meaningful contexts.
These skills do not suddenly replace earlier developmental learning.
A pupil who is beginning to recognise words may still need support with communication, sensory regulation, anticipation or initiation. A pupil beginning to demonstrate early number skills may still be developing object permanence, choice-making or cause-and-effect understanding.
Assessment should therefore remain holistic.
The addition of reading, writing and maths grids was intended to avoid an abrupt change from rich observational assessment to a completely separate academic system.
Instead, the pack allows practitioners to move gradually from early engagement, through developmental learning, towards subject-specific assessment.
Why early assessment can lead to better teaching
No assessment pack is valuable simply because it enables staff to fill in a spreadsheet.
The real purpose of assessment is to improve teaching and learning.
A useful assessment should help practitioners understand:
- what captures the pupil’s attention;
- what motivates them to persist;
- how they communicate enjoyment, discomfort, preference or rejection;
- which sensory channels are most accessible;
- whether physical or motor demands are limiting participation;
- what level of adult support is currently needed;
- whether a skill is becoming more independent;
- what opportunity should be offered next.
Good assessment should help us notice what has changed, understand why it matters and decide what opportunity to offer next.
For one pupil, the next step may be increasing the range of stimuli to which they respond consistently.
For another, it may be creating more opportunities to initiate interaction rather than waiting for an adult prompt.
For another, it may involve supporting a developing understanding of cause and effect across several environments.
For a pupil beginning to show subject-specific learning, the next step may be carefully planned teaching in reading, writing or mathematics while retaining the communication, sensory and interaction support that makes learning accessible.
Assessment should also prompt adults to reflect on their own practice.
If a pupil only demonstrates a skill with one particular adult, what is that adult doing differently?
If engagement is stronger in one room than another, what might be different about the sensory environment?
If a pupil waits for prompts before every action, have adults unintentionally created dependence?
If progress appears to have stalled, does the pupil need more repetition, a more motivating context or a different means of access?
These questions are often more valuable than the final descriptor entered on the grid.
A free Early Skills Assessment Pack for schools
The Early Skills Assessment Pack brings together elements of:
- the Engagement Model;
- Routes for Learning;
- the AET/NEN Progression Framework;
- the pre-key stage standards.
It includes an observation and assessment structure for pupils working at the earliest stages of learning, alongside reading, writing and mathematics grids for pupils beginning to move into subject-specific study.
The pack is not intended to replace statutory guidance, professional judgement or a school’s wider assessment policy.
It is a practical attempt to bring several established frameworks together in one accessible place, particularly for schools that may not use a commercial assessment package or where different systems are currently being used across settings.
It should be used as a starting point for observation, discussion and planning rather than as a test.
Progress at the earliest stages of learning is often subtle, individual and non-linear. No spreadsheet can capture the whole pupil.
However, a shared structure can help teams notice progress that might otherwise be overlooked, describe it more clearly and make better decisions about teaching.
The Early Skills Assessment Pack is available to download below.
Early Skills Assessment Pack – Excel workbook
Further reading and source materials
These original frameworks should be read alongside the pack to ensure that practitioners understand their purpose, scope and underlying principles.
Bringing frameworks together should not mean flattening their differences.
Each contributes something distinct.
The Engagement Model provides the statutory lens. Routes for Learning adds developmental detail. The AET/NEN descriptors support a shared language for progress. The pre-key stage standards provide continuity into subject-specific learning.
Used together, they can support a more coherent approach to recognising and planning for progress at the earliest stages.
That SEND Teacher 