National Agenda Testing in Dubai

For the academic year 2021-22 all private schools in Dubai, should be using a curriculum-specific assessment along with CAT4, NGRT, and PASS data to provide schools with the tools to develop a comprehensive assessment plan tailored to students’ educational needs, as well as to triangulate all assessment information. This plan should help schools to monitor more effectively and support better learning outcomes.

The priorities for KHDA are that schools:

• Make informed decisions about protocols to ensure that assessment information is as valid and reliable as possible 
• Clearly determine students’ starting points at the beginning of the academic year 
• Make the necessary provisions to ensure students continue to make progress 
• Continue to track students’ achievements throughout the year 

The recommended components supplied by GL Education are:

• Potential to learn – CAT4 
• Academic achievement – PT Series 
• Readiness to learn – PASS 
• Reading skills - NGRT 

Please note that Testwise, the GL online testing platform, has been updated. The URL is https://www.testwise.com. When using the updated platform for the first time, you will be asked to update your password. Further information can be found here.

At the end of academic year 2021-22, students should be tested with the appropriate test for that grade / year. This will allow progress to be measured for the full academic year. Testing should take place between 3rd April and 30th June 2022.

KHDA recommend that all students in grades 3 – 9 (years 4 – 10) take the Progress Test Series in mathematics, science, and English in April – June 2022.

Our Progress Tests in maths, English and science are available for schools following UK, IB, Pakistani, Canadian, and Philippine curriculums.

Find out more about the Progress Test Series here.

Refer to the table below to identify the appropriate test for each Grade / Year

A student who is in Year 6 for academic year 2021-22 should sit the level 11 tests in April-June 2022.

Please note: 

The PT Series assessments are currently not compatible with iPads or tablet and must be administered using a desktop computer or a laptop only. You can find out more about the Testwise minimum system requirements here.

Level 11T is not available for use in the UAE.

The testing window for this year’s ability testing is from 29th August to 30th November 2021. 

The KHDA expect schools to test the following students: 

Grades 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 or  Years 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12. 

New schools that have not previously tested with CAT4 are advised to test all their students from grade 3-9 (years 4 -10). 

Schools are encouraged to test more grades/years in primary schools.

Refer to the table below to identify the appropriate test level for each grade/year.

The New Group Reading Test (NGRT) is a fully adaptive, standardised termly assessment that reliably measures students’ reading ability. The assessment produces a clear reading baseline and a reading age for all your students, enabling you to recognise your students’ strengths and areas for development. NGRT is especially useful when paired with CAT4, particularly for further understanding with the verbal battery results.

Further information regarding NGRT can be found  here.

The suggested grades for NGRT testing are grades 3-9.

The Pupil Attitudes to Self and School (PASS) survey is designed to ensure that you know exactly how your students feel about themselves, their engagement with the curriculum, and their feelings about school. PASS comes with over 70 interventions to work on the attitudinal barriers to learning it detects.

Further information regarding PASS can be found here. 

The recommended grades for PASS testing are grades 3-9.

Refer to the table below to identify the appropriate test level for each grade/year.

All schools are required to sign and return a data sharing agreement. This enables us to share assessment data with school inspectors and regulators to support school evaluation. Bespoke inspection reports cannot be shared with you until we have received a revised agreement (signed after 20th August 2020). Please note that all PT Series test data (including archived data) will be shared with the regulator.

Complete DataSharing Agreement here.

If you have any queries about data sharing, please contact us on [email protected]

During registration, schools must clearly identify all Emirati students. Click here for further guidance on how to achieve this on the Testwise platform.

Please see the video below for guidance on updating your student records. 

We offer a wide range of online training courses to support schools in using individual assessments as well as in analysing data from a wide range of tests to gain greater insight. With options including timetabled presentations, moderated courses with flexible working and completely self-guided content it’s easy to find a course that suits your needs and schedule.

This year we are also offering a range of training opportunities for schools in the UAE. These are available for you to register now and will cover:

Testwise: Updating for the new academic year

PASS: Identifying learning and wellbeing priorities

CAT4: Getting more from your data

NGRT: Using data to support literacy

Find out about all our other training courses here.

• PT Series Support
• CAT4 Support

During the testing window we will be extending our office hours between 4th April and 30th June 2022. Our additional hours will be as per the below (all times are GMT):

Technical Support

Telephone: +44 (0)330 123 5375 (option 3, then option 1)

Email: [email protected]  

Monday – Thurs: 5.30am – 5pm (GMT)Friday – 5.30am – 2pm (GMT)

International Customer Support (advice on testing or buying tests):

Monday - Friday: 7:30am – 4pm (GMT)

Telephone: +44 (0)208 996 3369 (option 1, then option 1)

Email: [email protected]

Email [email protected] with your testing requirements.