Choosing a test type and level

Choosing a test type

NGRT is available in both digital and paper formats. 

The paper edition was published in 2010. It comprises 4 levels of test with equivalent forms recommended for students age 6 to 16. Test duration for paper version: 45-50 minutes. 

NGRT Digital is based on the paper test and contains the unaltered content of the paper tests, however it is adaptive, meaning that as a student works through the questions, new questions are automatically selected based on their perceived reading ability. More able pupils can be challenged whilst less able students are kept engaged. This means that the student is not restricted nor tested according to their year group, but their own ability. Test duration for digital version: Testing time will be approximately 30 minutes. However, please note that as NGRT Digital is adaptive the time taken to test each student will vary, so some may finish before others.

For more information on adaptive testing please see the ‘Adaptive testing with NGRT’ section in the Guidance and information for teachers on our Downloads page

Please note that any SEND accommodation requirements might affect our recommendation for which format of the test you take. See Testing SEND and EAL students for more details.

Recommended year groups

The age range of students that can be tested depends on whether the Digital or Paper test is chosen.

Digital version

NGRT Digital is recommended for students aged 7-16. 

Results from trialling the digital test with children in Year 1 demonstrated that the method of answering questions was a barrier to such young children and their performance was significantly lower when tested with the digital edition rather than the paper edition. NGRT Digital therefore is suitable for the following year groups.

UK - Recommended year groups
NGRT Digital Form Year Group
England and Wales Scotland Northern Ireland Age
A 2-11 P3-S5 P3-Year 12 6-16
B 2-11 P3-S5 P3-Year 12 6-16
C 2-11 P3-S5 P3-Year 12 6-16
International - Recommended year groups
NGRT Digital Form Year Group
Year (UK) Grade (US) Grade (Indian) Grade (IB Programme) Age
A 2-11 1st - 10th (Sophomore) 1st - 10th 1st PYP - 10th MYP 6-16
B 2-11 1st - 10th (Sophomore) 1st - 10th 1st PYP - 10th MYP 6-16
C 2-11 1st - 10th (Sophomore) 1st - 10th 1st PYP - 10th MYP 6-16

Paper version

NGRT Paper is recommended for students aged 6-16.

UK only - Recommended year groups
NGRT Paper Level Age Range covered by NGRT Norms Year Group (England) Age of Year Group Key Stage
Test 1 5:00 - 7:05 Year 1 5-6 KS1
Test 1B 5:00 - 7:11 Years 1-2 5-7 KS1
Test 2A/2B 6:00 - 10:05 Years 2-3 and struggling readers in Year 4 6-9 KS1-KS2
Test 3A/3B 9:00 - 14:05 Years 5-7 and struggling readers in Year 8 9-13 KS2-KS3
Test 3C 9:00 - 13:09 Years 5-7 and struggling readers in Year 8 9-13 KS2-KS3
Test 3D 8:00 - 11:09 Years 4-6 9-11 KS2
Test 4A/4B 13:00 - 17:05 Years 9-11 13-16 KS3-KS4
Test 4C 12:00 - 14:09 Years 8-9 13-14 KS3

Choosing a test level

Digital

You do not need to manually select the test level for the digital version. Students automatically enter the test according to their age, so the first question will be based on their date of birth. Depending on their score from the first part of the test, they will be moved on to the next task accordingly.

You can test students with any of the three forms, but please avoid re-testing using the same form in the same academic year as this will overwrite the data from the student's first sitting. You only need to use one form at a time. 

Paper

The table below provides a detailed overview of each test within the New Group Reading Test series.

Test Age Content Area of Assessment
Test 1 Age 6 (Year 1 / Primary 2) Short phonic exercises: initial sounds supported by pictures, ‘sounds like’, initial sounds (single phonemes and digraphs), final sounds
+
Sentence completion items
+
1 short passage with multiple choice comprehension questions
Phonic knowledge
Decoding ability
Sight word knowledge
 Comprehension (retrieval, simple inference and writer’s use of language)
Test 1B Age 7 (norms from 5:00 to 7:11)
Y2** P3 Y3 (NI)
Short phonic exercises; rhyming; final letter sounds; initial letter sounds
18 sentence completion questions
1 comprehension passage and 10 questions
Phonic knowledge
Decoding ability
Sight word knowledge
Comprehension (retrieval, simple inference and writer’s use of language)
Equivalent form tests 2A/2B Age 7–9
(Y2–Y4 / P3–P5)
20 sentence completion items
+
3 short passages with
10–11* context comprehension questions
 17–18* reading comprehension questions
Vocabulary
Grammatical knowledge
 Inference skills
Deduction skills
Equivalent form tests 3A/3B Age 10–13
(Y5–Y8 / P7–S2)
20 sentence completion items
+
4 short passages with
12–13* context comprehension questions
 19–20* reading comprehension questions
Vocabulary
Grammatical knowledge
 Inference skills
Ability to recognise
Authorial intent
Deduction skills
Test 3C Age 10 to 13 (norms 9:00 to 13:11)
Y5 to Y8 P6 to S2 Y6 to Y9 (NI)
20 sentence completion questions
+
4 comprehension passages with total of 32 questions
Decoding ability
Sight word knowledge
Comprehension (retrieval, context comprehension, inference and deduction, organisation of texts, writer’s use of language, writer’s purpose and viewpoints)
Test 3D Age 9 to 11 (norms 8:00 to 11:11)
Y4*** to Y6 P5 to P7 Y5 to Y7 (NI)
20 sentence completion questions
+
4 comprehension passages with total of 32 questions
Decoding ability
Sight word knowledge
Comprehension (retrieval, context comprehension, inference and deduction, organisation of texts, writer’s use of language, writer’s purpose and viewpoints, social, cultural and historic tradition)
Equivalent form tests 4A/4B Age 14–16
(Y9–Y11 / S3–S5)
22 sentence completion items
+
4 short passages with-
13–14* context comprehension questions
 20–21* reading comprehension questions
Vocabulary
Grammatical knowledge
 Inference skills
Deduction skills
Ability to recognise authorial intent
Ability to deal with figurative and idiomatic language
Other higher order reading skills
Test 4C Age 13 to 14 (norms 12:00 to 14:11)
Y8**** and Y9 S2 and S3 Y9 and Y10 (NI)
20 sentence completion questions
+
4 comprehension passages with total of 34 questions
Decoding ability
Sight word knowledge
Comprehension (retrieval, context comprehension, inference and deduction, organisation of texts, writer’s use of language, writer’s purpose and viewpoints, social, cultural and historic tradition)
*Exact number of questions depends on test used.
**Maybe used with children at the end of Y1 if they are ready to tackle the content
***Difficulty at Level 3 but standardised with pupils in Y4 (to circumvent any ceiling effect at Level 2)
****Difficulty at Level 4 but standardised with pupils in Y8 (to circumvent any ceiling effect at Level 3