Power Maths assessment: updates on ‘all schools average’ data for Spring term 2022
By now you may have carried out the Spring 1 assessments in the Progress Tests, and the Spring 2 tests may not be far away. This blog summarises the averages from all schools, using the Spring term data in the online Markbook, in case it’s useful to compare. Don’t forget that you can enter scores into the Markbook to track and analyse results against age-related expectations. (Just click the Markbook tile when you log into Power Maths. There’s a walkthrough video here.)
In the Markbook you can compare your results with other schools by looking at the ‘All school average’ (as shown below). And of course, by adding your data you can play your part in giving other schools the same opportunity to compare.
What are the average scores for the ‘Spring 1’ tests?
The Spring 1 tests (Arithmetic and Reasoning) assess work from the first half of Term B in Power Maths. You can see exactly which units are covered in the mark scheme (for instance, the Y6 Spring 1 Arithmetic and Reasoning tests cover Y6 Units 7-9). The tables below show the average scores currently appearing in ActiveLearn.
The last row shows where that score sits on our 6-step scale, which links with age-related expectation. This 6-step scale (Below, Towards, Expected, Secure, Towards Greater Depth, Greater Depth) is applied to children’s results on the Overview tab of the Markbook.
| Table 1a: All school averages for Spring 1 tests (KS1) - March 2022 | ||||
| Year 1 | Year 2 | |||
| Arithmetic / Reasoning | A | R | A | R |
| Total marks | 12 | 12 | 15 | 16 |
| Average score | 8.1 | 6.9 | 9.4 | 9.2 |
| Average score % | 67% | 58% | 63% | 58% |
| ARE scale | S | E/S | E | E |
| Table 1b: All school averages for Spring 1 tests (KS2) March 2022 | ||||||||
| Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | Year 6* | |||||
| Arithmetic / Reasoning | A | R | A | R | A | R | A | R |
| Total marks | 20 | 20 | 24 | 24 | 28 | 28 | 32 | 32 |
| Average score | 9 | 10.9 | 9.2 | 11.5 | 12.6 | 11.3 | 13.3 | 12.8 |
| Average score % | 45% | 55% | 38% | 48% | 45% | 40% | 42% | 40% |
| ARE scale | E | E | T | E | T | T | E | E |
*These Year 6 scores are not in ActiveLearn as the sample size is still slightly too small.
What about the average scores for ‘Spring 2’?
The Spring 2 tests cover the units in the second half of Term B in the Power Maths progression. Currently the average scores across all schools are not showing in the Markbook, because the sample size is slightly too small. So, once you are ready for these assessments, you may be interested to see the previous averages in the tables below.
| Table 2a: All school averages for Spring 2 tests (KS1) - March 2022* | ||||
| Year 1 | Year 2 | |||
| Arithmetic / Reasoning | A | R | A | R |
| Total marks | 12 | 12 | 15 | 16 |
| Average score | 7.5 | 7.2 | 7.7 | 7.8 |
| Average score % | 63% | 60% | 51% | 49% |
| ARE scale | E/S | E/S | E | E |
| Table 2b: All school averages for Spring 2 tests (KS2) March 2022* | ||||||||
| Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | Year 6* | |||||
| Arithmetic / Reasoning | A | R | A | R | A | R | A | R |
| Total marks | 20 | 20 | 24 | 24 | 28 | 28 | 32 | 32 |
| Average score | 10.0 | 9.0 | 11.3 | 10.8 | 14.8 | 14.3 | 18.9 | 16.4 |
| Average score % | 50% | 45% | 47% | 45% | 53% | 51% | 59% | 51% |
| ARE scale | E | E | E | T/E | E | E | E | E |
*These Spring 2 scores for Y1-6 are not in ActiveLearn as the sample size is still slightly too small.
What did children find difficult?
Averages for most of the Spring 1 tests are within the ‘Expected’ band, but Year 4 and Year 5 children found the tests most challenging. Of the tests with average scores in the ‘Towards’ band, the Y4 Arithmetic test covers multiplication and division, and the two Y5 tests cover multiplication and division but also fractions. Is this where you would have expected to see many pupils struggling?
For Spring 2 (based only on previous years’ results), there is one test which is borderline between ‘Towards’ and ‘Expected’ - the Y4 Reasoning test which covers fractions and decimals.
Congratulations to you and your pupils for all the hard work that goes into these results! Hopefully future blogs will be able to show some positive trends, comparing results for the academic year with the one before.
Why don’t the Spring 2 ‘all schools’ averages appear in ActiveLearn?
Less data was entered for Spring and Summer terms in 2020 and 2021, which were clearly disrupted considerably by the pandemic. Please do keep entering your data so that the threshold is reached (as it has been for the Spring 1 scores).
Watch out for another blog in the Summer term with an update on the data.
Why do the percentage scores vary?
Tests inevitably vary in difficulty, so the boundaries of the 6-step scale are set appropriately for each test. These boundaries are shown in the mark scheme. Therefore, the ARE scale is a better comparator than the average percentage.
I hope this round-up gives useful background for your assessments this term. Please keep entering your data so we can keep building up a picture that’s useful for everyone.