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    Setting the Sparx Reading Test
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        Setting the Sparx Reading Test

            Article summary

            Once students are logged in, they'll need to sit the Sparx Reading Test (SRT) before they start to complete homework. This is so that we can find their level. 

            To see if a student needs to sit an SRT for their onboarding:

            • You can go to More > Reading test where you'll see a "Test ever completed" status. Anything other than a tick here means a student needs to complete a test for onboarding.

            • You can go to More > Student Manager and view the Account status. Any student that is not in the status of "Account setup" will be required to sit an SRT

            • You can download the Sparx Reading Test Report from the Reports page, where you'll see an entry for each reading test a student has completed, or an empty row if they've yet to complete one. 

            During the reading test, students will see a mix of vocabulary and comprehension questions. It is adaptive and should take between 20-30 minutes to complete. The number of questions students will see will differ as the test is adaptive, but the lower bound is 45 questions and the upper bound is 83 for both forms of the SRT. 

            The test can be set for a maximum of 9 hours. If students begin the test but do not complete it, they will be able to return to where they have left off while the test is still active. If the test has expired, you will be able to resume the test for up to 3 weeks (See below for more information on resuming tests). 

            You can set up a test by following these steps: 

            1. Go to More > Reading Test on the left of the screen

            2. Choose your class from the list 

            3. Untick any students who are absent or you don't want to sit the test

            4. Click Create Test 

            5. Choose which form you would like students to sit either Form 1 or Form 2. (NB: Students only need to sit one test. We recommend sitting Form 1 at the start of the year and then Form 2 at the end of the year. The two tests are similar in design but have different questions.) 

            6. Choose if you want the test to start immediately or schedule it for a time and date in the future

            7. Choose how long you want the test to be live for (our default is 2 hours but you can extend this, just be aware that we recommend students sit this test under assessment conditions in school rather than at home)

            8. Click Create Test

            This video also outlines how to set this up:

            Following the SRT students will see a short training book to introduce them to the platform. Students can complete this at home if necessary.

            The Reading test page will show you when a student most recently sat a Sparx Reading Test (either current or previous academic year). You can also see this information in the Reading test report which you can find more info about here

            Note: There is no audio during the SRT so students will not need headphones to complete the test.

            Scheduling a Reading test

            If you don't want the test to start immediately, you can schedule the test to start whenever you'd like it to. During the process of creating a test, you will see an option to select immediately, or to pick a date and time in the future for it to begin.


            Resuming a Reading test

            If some student’s run out of time and don’t complete the test, they can continue to access it until it expires. These students will show as having Partial progress in the status column. Once it expires, you will be able to resume the test by going to the resume tests tab, and then setting a new expiry time. This will allow them to continue from part way through the test instead of having to start again from the beginning. If it’s more desirable for them to start the test again, then you can follow the steps above to set them a new test like normal.

            Resetting the Sparx Reading Test

            You can reset the SRT for any students who may have missed it or need to sit it again following the same instructions as above. At step 3, simply select the necessary students. 

            You can also reset the SRT at any point if you wish to see a new set of results for your students. As mentioned above, all the results will appear next to the relevant student so you can compare the most recent test result with any previous results. 

            NB: If a student's reading age result from the SRT has changed this will not affect their Sparx Level or the books that they are offered. Book choice is informed by the reading age estimate on the Insights page.


            However, if you notice a big discrepancy you can always manually override a student's Sparx Level (more information here: Changing a student's Sparx Level. 

            If you think you may have set the wrong Form of the Sparx Reading Test please see the article: What happens if I have set the wrong form of the SRT?


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