What are the benefits of APP?

School leaders and teachers who have been involved in the APP pilots have identified the following key benefits.

APP gives a detailed profile of what a pupil can do in relation to the AFs.
It provides high quality evidence to inform next steps in pupils' learning and reporting on pupils' progress.
It uses a teacher's assessment of a sample group of pupils to get a periodic view of progress and attainment across the whole class.
Its outcomes contribute to improved learning and more responsive teaching, and support teachers in aligning their judgements with national standards.
It embraces assessment approaches which have traditionally been defined as formative and summative.
It is both systematic and adaptable to local contexts.
It provides a National Curriculum AT level when needed, from an informed, holistic judgement, rather than an arithmetical accumulation of marks in tests.

Watch what pilot school leaders and teachers think are the benefits of the APP approach.

The table below provides a summary of typical changes in assessment practice made by teachers in the pilots.

Practice before APP	Practice after APP
define progress through tests	assess progress in relation to key AFs for mathematics and reading and writing, identified as relevant for a pupil or group of pupils have a clearer idea of pupils' strengths and weaknesses and gaps in their experience
use commercial tests and optional National Curriculum tests	observe pupils making choices of books in the library; listen to group discussions of texts use work in drama based on reading use spoken and written evidence observe pupils selecting the mathematics to solve a problem
test word and sentence level skills	make assessments of vocabulary and sentence structure and accuracy in different pieces of writing
use spelling tests	make some assessments of spelling across a range of writing
level individual pieces of writing, twice per term using a bank of examples	collect evidence from four to six pieces of writing from different subjects assess across the range using AFs
assess through pupils' written mathematics exercises	gather evidence in starters and plenaries and as pupils work in groups talk to pupils to find out more about how they tackle problems as well as whether they get the answer observe how pupils use their mathematics in design and technology and science
few Ma1 assessments made	start to include more problem solving in lessons to teach skills and processes, as well as assess them become aware that assessing Ma1 may give a different insight into pupils' understanding of the content

Primary Framework for literacy and mathematics