Explain an assessment to a parent by stating the decision it will inform, what the task will involve, what support or adjustments will be available, how the evidence will be interpreted, who will review it and how the pupil or family can add context or correct the record.
The note below is a starting template for school-designed assessments in England. Replace every bracketed field and check the rules for the actual assessment. It doesn't turn one result into a diagnosis, a fixed label, an automatic group or a high-stakes recommendation.
Copy this seven-part note
Why we are using this assessment
We plan to use [name or describe the assessment] on [date or window]. Its purpose is to help [teacher or team] decide [the specific teaching, support or reporting question]. It is not designed to decide [a diagnosis, fixed label, automatic group or other decision outside its purpose].
What your child will do
The assessment involves [task, observation or questions] and usually takes [time]. It covers [curriculum content or construct]. We will record the task or measure, version, date, conditions and who administered it.
Access, support and adjustments
We will use [usual classroom support or agreed adjustments] so the task can address its intended purpose. Please tell [role or contact] by [date] if there is access information we may have missed. Formal access arrangements for a statutory test or regulated qualification follow that assessment's own rules.
How we will use the evidence
[Named role] will review the result alongside [classroom evidence, curriculum exposure, attendance, support, pupil voice or other relevant context]. One response will not be treated as proof of ability, effort, need or future outcome. We will record missing evidence and any uncertainty.
What happens next
We will review the evidence on [date] and decide whether to [continue, adapt, reteach, gather a small amount of further evidence or take no change]. We will explain the decision and the evidence behind it.
How your child and family can contribute
Your child can explain how the assessment felt and whether anything affected their response. You can add relevant context or question the interpretation by contacting [role and route]. We will record agreed corrections and any remaining difference of view.
How the information is handled
The evidence will be available to [authorised roles] for [stated purpose] and handled under the school's privacy information and retention arrangements. For questions about the record or its use, contact [school route].
Why each part earns its place
Purpose comes first because a result is only interpretable against its intended use. Ofqual's current handbook defines validity through the interpretation of outcomes and their intended uses. A classroom task, a statutory national curriculum assessment and a regulated qualification do different jobs. The letter should say which job this assessment has.
The task description gives provenance. Record the source, date, version, curriculum point, conditions, support and adjustments. Without those details, a polished score may conceal that the content had not been taught, the usual access support was absent or part of the response is missing.
The Standards and Testing Agency's parent information for the reception baseline assessment is a helpful example of clear scope. It explains what children do, the assessment's cohort-level purpose, adaptations, how data is used and what parents can request. The 2026 to 2027 statutory arrangements also make clear that the assessment is designed for a specific purpose and has assessment-specific accessibility routes.
Keep ordinary classroom adjustments distinct from formal access arrangements. Schools have duties to make reasonable adjustments for disabled pupils. For regulated qualifications, Ofqual and JCQ set assessment-specific processes, evidence requirements and rules. JCQ's live page on 15 August 2026 says arrangements are based on evidence of need and how the candidate normally works, without changing what is being tested. Use the rule set for the qualification and series in front of you.
A contribution route changes communication from an announcement into a reviewable record. The SEND Code of Practice for England expects parents to have clear information about the impact of support and to participate in planning next steps. The Education Endowment Foundation's parental-engagement guidance also recommends defining the aim of communication and testing what families find workable. Neither source suggests that every assessment result is certain or that agreement should be manufactured.
See how the wording changes the next decision
The details here are invented and combined to demonstrate the template. A Year 4 teacher plans a short reading-comprehension check after a curriculum unit. The note says the purpose is to decide whether the class needs more teaching on making inferences from text. It does not present the check as a test of general ability or as a route to a SEND label.
One pupil's response contains several unanswered items. The teacher records the task version and notices that the pupil missed part of the teaching sequence. The support record also shows that the usual enlarged text was not available. The pupil says the page layout made it hard to keep their place. A parent adds that new glasses are due, without claiming this explains every answer.
The class teacher and SENCo keep the result provisional. They restore the usual classroom adjustment, teach the missed content and review a different short task the following Friday. The pupil can comment on the new conditions, and the family can correct the communication record.
The connected view changes the next teaching action. It does not diagnose a need, prove why the first response was incomplete, show that the adjustment caused any later change or justify an automatic referral. Attendance, curriculum exposure, task conditions, practice effects, maturation, measurement error and missing evidence may all affect interpretation.
Cohort communication needs the same restraint. Show denominators and missing results. Small groups can be unstable and identifiable, so suppress or aggregate where needed and avoid spurious precision. A family note should never disclose another pupil's information.
Where Student Radar fits
Where the Assess package is in use, Exam & Assessment Windows can keep the planned window, candidates and arrangements visible. Assessment Reports can add school, year-group, class and pupil context for authorised staff to review.
These shipped features can connect the plan with reviewed evidence. They don't decide the purpose, write the family's explanation, infer ability or need, approve an access arrangement or replace the teacher, assessment lead or SENCo responsible for the review.
Use the two-minute decision question before choosing a classroom check, the purpose-led assessment calendar for whole-school planning, and the conflicting-results walk-through when evidence points in different directions. To review the connected workflow, request an assessment-focused walkthrough.
Sources and further reading
- Standards and Testing Agency, 2026 reception baseline assessment: assessment and reporting arrangements, statutory guidance updated 24 July 2026; applies to England for 2026 to 2027.
- Standards and Testing Agency, Reception baseline assessment: information for parents, updated 15 September 2025.
- Ofqual, Ofqual Handbook: Section D, general requirements for regulated qualifications, published 12 October 2017; updated 4 December 2025.
- Ofqual, Ofqual guide for schools and colleges 2026, published 15 January 2026; updated 3 February 2026; applies to England.
- Joint Council for Qualifications, Access Arrangements, Reasonable Adjustments and Special Consideration, live guidance reviewed 15 August 2026; March 2026 update noted.
- Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care, SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years, statutory guidance for England; page updated 12 September 2024.
- Education Endowment Foundation, Working with Parents to Support Children's Learning, guidance report published 7 December 2018.