Levels 3-5

This year the texts in the levels 3-5 English reading booklet will not be linked by a theme. The booklet will contain three or four texts. The least demanding text will come first with the following texts increasing in level of difficulty.

Instead of being given 15 minutes reading time and 45 minutes to answer the questions, children will have a total of one hour to read the texts and complete the questions at their own pace.

The reading answer booklet will comprise approximately 35 to 40 questions (totalling 50 marks). The questions are:

  • shorter, closed response items (such as multiple choice and matching questions);
  • shorter, open response items; and
  • longer, open response items that require children to explain and comment on the texts in order to demonstrate a full understanding.

Questions are worth 1, 2 or 3 marks.

Sample materials can be downloaded from this page. These are provided for illustrative purposes, as an indication of what future key stage 2 English reading tests that are not ‘themed’ will look like. They are not intended to be used as a practice test.

Level 6

Schools may choose to administer the level 6 English reading test in addition to the levels 3-5 test. The level 6 test consists of:

  • a reading booklet containing around three or four texts based on a single theme
  • a reading answer booklet comprising approximately 25 questions (totalling 30-35 marks)

Children are given ten minutes to read the reading booklet and 50 minutes to answer the questions in the answer booklet. They can refer back to the texts in the reading booklet throughout the test.

As in the level 3-5 test, the questions are:

  • shorter, closed response items (such as multiple choice and matching questions); and
  • longer, more open response types that require children to explain and comment on the texts in order to demonstrate a full understanding.

Questions are worth 1, 2, 3 or 4 marks.

Schools can download the 2013 level 6 English reading test from STA’s orderline.