Assessing and tracking pupils' progress

Last reviewed on 17 December 2021
School types: All · School phases: All
Ref: 11245

Find out what factors to consider when assessing and tracking pupil progress. See examples of how schools are doing this and which commercial packages they're using.

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Contents

  1. What to think about when tracking pupil progress
  2. Use data effectively to promote learning above tracking 
  3. Be wary of developing term-specific assessment criteria
  4. See how other schools are approaching this
  5. Take a look at these templates from a headteacher 
  6. Commercial packages schools are using

Please note that any mention of commercial products in this article doesn’t constitute an endorsement from The Key. 

What to think about when tracking pupil progress

Tailor your tracking system

It’s likely you’ll be able to tailor it to cater for your school’s assessment needs. You can dictate how many ‘assessment points’ (points at which pupils are assessed) you want to track over the course of the year. 

Your system may have assessment points built in – for instance, at the end of a term, stage or pathway. However, you can:

  • Still assess in between these points to track progress towards targets
  • Track progress towards skills or knowledge at any point in the school year

Make sure your tracking system can accommodate as many points as you want to track. 

Pupils should be exceeding the objectives for years 3 and 4 before moving onto objectives for years

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