To set up PAT and other assessments for online or paper administration, please log in or sign up at NZCER Assist.
Throughout 2023, NZCER is continuing its refresh of the PATs. This is an equity-focused refresh of design and content of PATs, with improved system-level reporting, new tests from Year 3 to Year 11,and improved accessibility (including audio support).
This began with the introduction of PAT Mathematics Refreshed in Term 1 2023 through our NZCER Assist platform. It continues in Term 4, 2023, with the introduction of refreshed paper tests for PAT Mathematics and - soon - the refreshed PAT Reading Comprehension.
What's changing for schools using PATs - Term 4, 2023
- You will need to replace your current paper tests for PAT Mathematics for 2024 or move to online assessment. In Term 4, we will be moving all paper tests for PAT Mathematics to our refreshed offering. If you want to use paper tests for maths in 2024, you will need to purchase these refreshed items. Alternatively, you can move to our online PATs through NZCER Assist.
- You can still use the current PAT Mathematics paper tests until the end of Term 4 2023, but these will not be available for purchase after November 1.
- Additionally, refreshed Reading Comprehension will be available for the beginning of Term 1, 2024 online-only. It will be available through NZCER Assist from late in Term 4 2023, and will be a separate test from Reading Vocabulary.
- Schools can continue using the current Reading Comprehension paper tests throughout 2024, and expect a similar shift to refreshed paper tests in late 2024.
The Progressive Achievement Tests (PATs) assess students' Mathematics, Listening Comprehension, Punctuation and Grammar, Reading Comprehension, and Reading Vocabulary. PATs are a series of standardised tests developed specifically for use in New Zealand schools. Understanding PATs - for parents and the community explains what PATs assess and how they are marked.
NZCER supports the purposeful use of assessment for focussed inquiry and provides support and advice to schools about using these assessments to support learning. You can phone or email our support specialists, register for an online workshop, or engage our education advisers to discuss the decisions you have to make.
PAT: Mathematics
- designed to assess students in Years 3–10
- assesses number knowledge, number strategies, algebra, geometry and measurement and statistics
- test scores allow for formative as well as summative reporting
- scale scores enable a student's level of achievement to be tracked from year to year
- diagnostic reports are provided in the teacher manual
- the tests come as reusable booklets with separate answer sheets
- Computer adaptive testing for PAT:Mathematics is available
PAT: Reading Comprehension and Reading Vocabulary
- designed to assess Years 4–10 students
- are combined in one booklet but can be used as separate tests
- test scores allow for formative as well as summative reporting
- scale scores enable a student's level of achievement to be tracked from year to year
- diagnostic reports are provided in the teacher manual
- tests are standarised and easy to mark
- tests are multiple choice and maps student progress on a scale
- designed to assess Years 4–10 students
- questions fall into three categories: punctuation, grammar use and grammar knowledge
- questions are aligned with the Literacy Learning Progressions
- multiple-choice for easy, accurate marking
- able to be reported using scale scores or stanines
- able to be hand-marked or marked in NZCER Assist
- includes recommendations about using results for further teaching and learning.
PAT: Listening Comprehension
- designed to assess students in Years 3–10
- there are 8 tests; one for each year level
- multiple-choice for easy and accurate marking
- professional sound recordings of texts, questions and each multiple-choice answer on CD
- user-friendly layout of teacher and student booklets
- able to be marked in NZCER Assist
- progress over time can be tracked on a scale
- starter kits are available
For more information about purchasing PATs
Please call us on (04) 802-1450 or email sales@nzcer.org.nz.
Assessments can only be sold to schools, teachers with a current teaching certificate, or parents/caregivers of homeschooled children with a current exemption certificate.
Please note: Due to increased printing and shipping costs, the prices of our paper assessment items are increasing from 1 July 2022. The new prices are included in the web pricing and the downloadable order forms. Prices last increased in 2018 and we have tried to keep the increases to a minimum.