NATIONAL REFERENCE TEST
Every year, pupils from over 330 schools are randomly selected to take part in a National Reference Test (NRT), conducted by National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).
In 2023, St Joseph's has been selected to take part, and has provided NFER with a list of all its Year 11 students entered for GCSE English Language or GCSE Maths in summer 2023.
Pupils will be randomly chosen to take either a maths or English paper lasting 1 hour. This testing will take place on Tuesday 21st February 2023.
Why does National Reference Testing happen?
The NRT provides a valuable source of evidence which Ofqual uses to understand changes in performance of students at a national level over time. Each year, the results of the NRT are considered by exam boards when setting grade boundaries in GCSE English language and maths. Your participation in the NRT is very important to ensure that the results are representative of the GCSE student population.
Will pupils need to prepare for the test if they are selected?
Pupils do not need to prepare for this test, so there is no extra work or revision required. The results are anonymised and their score on the test will not be shared with teachers or the school.
In return for taking part, pupils will be entered into a prize draw for a tablet computer. There is one national prize draw for students doing the English test and one for students doing the maths test.
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For more information about the tests and what is involved, please see the resources below:
