Timeline

The TIMSS Support Team will contact your school with a letter from the Scottish Government and a welcome email from Pearson. Primary and Secondary schools in Scotland are selected to take part in TIMSS to help us better understand Science and Maths education in the UK and internationally, and to identify ways to improve outcomes for pupils, teachers and schools. We encourage you to share this exciting opportunity with your Senior Leadership Team and Governors.

A member of the TIMSS Support Team will be in touch to guide you through completing a Study Sign Up Form in your welcome email. As part of the form, we'll ask you to nominate two members of staff to act as TIMSS School Coordinators and we’ll confirm a few key details, including if the proposed TIMSS Test Date works with your school’s schedule. We welcome you to suggest alternative dates within our test windows if they are more suitable (Primary Schools: 10th May – 18th June 2027) (Secondary Schools: 1st March – 1st April 2027).

The Study Sign Up Form will also ask for information about how many P5/S2 classes your school has and their teachers and it’ll offer you the opportunity to provide your school’s bank details. Sharing of school bank details is optional at this stage, but it can help us arrange your TIMSS thank you payment in advance.

Based on your school's size, pupil numbers and class sizes, our sampling team will select one or more of your P5/S2 classes to take part in the TIMSS Test Day. We think it's important that parents and carers of the pupils in these classes are aware of your school's participation in TIMSS and have an opportunity to ask us any questions. So, we'll provide a template letter for you to share with them, with detailed information about the TIMSS study and data protection guidelines Pearson will follow to look after their child’s data. Secondary schools will receive a separate pupil letter template to share with the pupils in the selected classes for the same reason.

You may distribute letters home either digitally or in a physical copy, but please do allow enough time for parents and carers to review the information and let you know if they would prefer their child not to take part.

We'll confirm again which of your P5/S2 classes have been selected to participate in the TIMSS Test Day and send you a Student Teacher Linkage Form for each participating class. Student Linkage Forms help us match pupils to the teachers who work with them, so we’ll ask you to populate the document(s) with pupil names and their details, so we know which pupils are in which class.

We recommend School Coordinators work with their Additional Support Needs (ASN) Coordinator to complete this step, as it is a good opportunity to identify pupils requiring adjustments or who may not be suitable to participate in the assessment. We'll provide guidance throughout this process, and our team is available to discuss individual circumstances if you have queries. Once completed, please return the Student Teacher Linkage Form(s) securely to the TIMSS Support Team for review.

TIMSS is a computer-based assessment. We know technology can sometimes feel a little daunting, so we're here to help every step of the way. We like to make sure your school tech is ready well ahead of your TIMSS Test Day, so we'll ask a few simple questions about the devices available at your school and guide you through some straightforward checks. This helps us identify and resolve any potential issues in advance, giving everyone confidence that the TIMSS Test Day will run smoothly.

The School Coordinator will receive instructions by email along with a Tech Check Form to complete. This form allows you to confirm the checks have been carried out and highlight anything you'd like support with. If you have an ICT Manager at the school, they can often help with this step.

Devices which are compatible with the TIMSS assessment include most laptops, desktop computers, Chromebooks and Surface Pros. Unfortunately, iPads and tablets without a keyboard attachment aren't compatible with the TIMSS assessment. Don’t worry if your school doesn't have enough compatible devices available, Pearson may be able to provide additional equipment for the TIMSS Test Day, subject to availability.

An important part of TIMSS is understanding the wider factors that can influence pupil achievement.

A member of the School Leadership Team will be invited to complete a School Questionnaire, which gathers information about your school's context. Teachers of the selected P5/S2 classes, or Heads of Science or Maths where appropriate, will be asked to complete a Teacher Questionnaire, exploring areas such as teaching experience, professional development, classroom practice, assessment approaches and pupils' readiness for learning. We'll send login details and guidance by email.

Primary schools (testing P5 classes) will also receive a Home Questionnaire to share with the parents and carers of the pupils in the selected classes. The Home Questionnaire helps us understand the different experiences that support children's learning at home and how these may be linked to achievement in Science and Maths. Secondary schools (testing S2 classes) do not have a Home Questionnaire to complete.

We'll send your TIMSS assessment materials a few weeks before your TIMSS Test Day. Once they arrive, we ask that School Coordinators check everything is present and store the materials securely until they're needed.

At least two weeks before TIMSS Test Day, we'll confirm the name and contact details of the Test Administrator(s) who will support your school on the day. They'll be your main point of contact for discussing arrangements, logistics and safeguarding requirements, helping to ensure everything is in place before the assessment takes place. We strongly recommend the TIMSS assessment starts in the early part of the morning, but we allow schools to choose a specific start time to suit their scheduling. We ask that a School Coordinator is available to welcome the Test Administrator(s), to help with pupil attendance and support access to the assessment room(s).

The TIMSS assessment and Pupil Questionnaire will then take place, running to the schedule outlined below and every participating pupil will receive a certificate to take home after their test. Any documentation used during the TIMSS Test Day should be photocopied for your records before the originals are returned to Pearson via the Test Administrator(s).

Your school's participation in TIMSS is an important contribution to the future of Science and Maths education and we'd like to recognise that with a thank you payment. If you provided your bank details during the Study Sign Up process, we'll be able to arrange your school’s thank you payment shortly after your TIMSS Test Day.

If you chose not to provide bank details at the earlier stage, we'll send a Thank You Pay Form for your Finance Manager to complete, and we’ll process the thank you payment after the TIMSS testing window is complete. We'll also invite all School Coordinators to complete a short feedback survey. Your insights help us improve future studies and ensure we continue providing the best possible experience for schools taking part.