English: Assessing subject knowledge

Tests, templates and tools to help you to evaluate pupils’ subject knowledge in the English classroom

As part of the process of getting to know your new class, it’s useful to assess students’ subject knowledge to find out what they already know. Not only does this help them to understand where the gaps in their learning are, but it is also essential in informing your planning going forward.

Make sure you’re on top of your pupils’ progress with this collection of assessment tools, which cover basic skills as well as key texts.

KS3 resources

Find out how well your learners have got to grips with basic spelling and grammar using the worksheets in this comprehensive pack. These skills can also be tested when assessing pupils’ written responses to a text. This bundle of KS3 novel assessments* offers an excellent starting point.

Looking for ways to assess reading? Get inspired by this detailed list, which highlights a range of questions related to specific assessment foci. Alternatively, use these versatile crib sheets to evaluate students’ speaking and listening skills in any given task.

KS4 and post-16 resources

Including a list of possible activities, this collection of practice questions is ideal for discovering the depth of your learners’ comprehension of the characters and themes in An Inspector Calls. Or, support students as they tackle their first unseen poetry assessment, using this scaffolded booklet, which explicitly outlines the steps pupils ought to take to successfully answer an exam question of this type.

Appraise A-level students’ knowledge of the key terms associated with a language acquisition unit using this simple test. For those studying Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, these exam-style questions* provide a multitude of opportunities to test learners’ grasp of the play.

Quick links

*This resource is being sold by the author

This blog post is featured in the October English newsletter from TES Resources.

If you'd like to receive any of our resources newsletters, all you have to do is edit your email preferences when logged into TES.com. Simply go to your preference centre and tick the boxes that are relevant to you. Let us know if you have any problems.