---
title: Uploading National Test Data to GO 4 Schools (Wales)
description: Uploading National Test Data to GO 4 Schools (Wales) | Help & Support — GO 4 Schools
---

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1. [GO 4 Schools for Wales](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/wales?hsLang=en-gb)
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# Uploading National Test Data to GO 4 Schools (Wales)

The National Reading and Literacy Tests (taken by students in school years 2 to 9) are for diagnostic use so that teachers in all maintained schools have information about the reading and numeracy skills of their learners alongside a common understanding of strengths and areas for improvement in these key skills. The tests are focused on understanding learner progress, and not school performance or accountability measures. The Welsh Government requires that they replace rather than supplement any reading and numeracy tests that were used in schools before their introduction.

 

In 2021 to 2022, personalised assessments for learners in Years 2 to 9 became available to take throughout the school year, including Numeracy (Reasoning). The new online personalised assessments will adjust the difficulty level of the questions to provide a personalised experience for each learner. 

 

Data for the three tests can be uploaded through [student attributes](https://support.go4schools.com/en/support/solutions/articles/80000793729)<https://support.go4schools.com/en/support/solutions/articles/80000793729><https://support.go4schools.com/en/support/solutions/articles/80000793729> in GO 4 Schools, and should you wish, you can upload the results achieved since year 2 through to year 9. 

#### **Different methodologies for uploading attribute data**

There are two main approaches to uploading attribute data:

1. Bulk uploading attribute data where your file may contain students from one-or-more year groups, and several columns of data to populate different attributes. E.g. 2022 National Test data for Y7-9 students for the Literacy and Numeracy outcomes. How to upload using this method is covered in a video titled “<https://support.go4schools.com/en/support/solutions/articles/80001045528>[Bulk uploading National Test data](https://support.go4schools.com/en/support/solutions/articles/80001045528)”.
2. Uploading values one at a time per year group, per attribute. The first sections of this document will cover this approach.

#### **Preparing your file for upload**

For the example below, I will be using the age-standardised score, but the same steps are followed if you wish to upload the progress measure instead.

Save the test results in separate Excel CSV files (please note that column headers are not required for uploading to attributes, but they do require the columns in one of the formats listed below).

 

Three different record formats are supported for your convenience:

1. UPN, Value *(in this case, the scaled score achieved in the test)*
2. Last Name, First Name, Date of Birth, Sex, Value
3. UPN, Last Name, First Name, Date of Birth, Sex, Value

You can use different formats for different rows **within the same file**.  
In all cases, the last value is the **attribute value**, and all other values are simply used to identify the student.

Some sample **valid** records for an attribute used to record National Literacy Test results are shown below:

| Format | Record | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | X123456789012, 97 | All values supplied |
| 2 | Smith, John, 12 Sep 2002, M, 97 | All values supplied |
| 2 | Smith, John, , M, 97 | Date of birth omitted, but note that the blank column **must** still be present |
| 3 | X123456789012, Smith, John, 12 Sep 2002, M, 97 | All values supplied |
| 3 | X123456789012, Smith, John, , M, 97 | Date of birth omitted, but note that the column for the omitted value **must** still be present |
| 3 | X123456789012, Smith, John, , , 97 | Date of birth and sex omitted, but note that the columns for the omitted values **must** still be present |

 

Some sample **invalid** records:

| Record | Reason for invalidity |
| --- | --- |
| X123456789012 | No attribute value supplied |
| X123456789012, Smith, 97 | Too many values for format 1 and too few for formats 2 and 3 |

 

All student identification values in a record are optional, but whatever values are provided will be used to try to identify a unique student for that record (remember to include columns for missing values.) When trying to identify a student, GO 4 Schools will check the first name and surname provided for a student against the legal and preferred names retrieved from your MIS. If provided, it will also check that the sex and date of birth are consistent with the data from your MIS. If a unique student cannot be identified, the record will be rejected. 

 If multiple records for a student can be found in a file all those records will be rejected.

#### **Validation**

As well as checking the students’ details, GO 4 Schools uses the following rules when interpreting the contents of a CSV file:

- Attribute files can not contain header rows.
- Records that do not match one of the formats above are rejected. This includes blank lines.
- Dates (whether dates of birth or values to be held for attributes) can be provided in a wide range of formats, but the recommended format is dd/mm/yyyy e.g. 31/12/2011. (A date such as '12/2/2010' will be interpreted using a UK format as 12th Feb, rather than 2nd December.)
- Sex can be provided as M, F, m, f (i.e. it is not case sensitive).

#### **Creating the Attributes**

The Student Attribute pages can be accessed by school managers using the menu option **Curriculum \> Student attributes \> Student attributes**. You should click the **Create a new student attribute** button, found at the bottom of the page, which will take to the page shown below.

![](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-29-3969-AM.png?width=670&height=522&name=undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-29-3969-AM.png)

When you click **save** at the bottom of this page, you will be taken back to the “Student attributes” page.

 

![](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-31-1040-AM.png?width=670&height=285&name=undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-31-1040-AM.png)

 

Click on the **Manage values** link which will take you to the “Manage values for attribute “National Reading Test”” page where you choose to **Add a new set of values…**.

 

![Graphical user interface, text, application

Description automatically generated](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-26-6850-AM.png?width=510&height=341&name=undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-26-6850-AM.png)

From the page below, you can upload the 2022 National Reading Test data for each of the applicable year groups:

 

![Graphical user interface, text, application

Description automatically generated](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-30-8900-AM.png?width=670&height=284&name=undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-30-8900-AM.png)

The following page will display the number of records that were valid, the number that were “mismatches” (i.e. that do not uniquely correspond to a known student), the number that were “clashing” (i.e. that would change values already held in the database), and the number of empty records. You can review the records in each category using the “tabs” at the bottom of the page. If you are happy with the set of valid records you can save them to the database by clicking the **Save attributes** button.

![](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-31-6059-AM.png?width=670&height=349&name=undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-31-6059-AM.png)

 

#### **Bulk uploading multiple attributes for multiple year groups in a single file**

This is possible via Curriculum \> Student attributes \> Upload attribute data.  A video on using this approach can be viewed [here](https://support.go4schools.com/en/support/solutions/articles/80001045225).

#### **Creating a markbook pop-out**

For staff to access this data from their markbooks you will need to create an “Attribute Set” to hold the attributes.

If you go to **Curriculum \> Student attributes \> Student attribute sets**, you will find some default sets for system attributes are already available for you, such as Demographic, Enrolment, etc., as well as any other attributes created by your school. The “Attribute sets” column on the left shows sets available. The “Attributes in set” column shows the individual attributes within the selected set. 

To create your own set of student attributes simply click on the **Add a new attribute set** button. A new attribute set will be created at the bottom of the list with a default name. You can click on the name to overwrite it. You can assign a colour using the colour picker on the left if you wish. To assign attributes to your new set, click on the **Change attribute assignments** button on the right.

![](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-29-6710-AM.png?width=670&height=443&name=undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-29-6710-AM.png)

Once you have created the attribute set, and assigned the National Test attributes, you will need to select which year groups you wish to make the markbook pop-out visible in. You can also select the colour of the markbook pop-out.

![](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-30-2278-AM.png?width=670&height=427&name=undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-30-2278-AM.png)

 

![](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-26-9018-AM.png?width=670&height=289&name=undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-26-9018-AM.png)

When teachers click on the pop-out highlighted above they will be able to view all the populated attributes. To close the pop-out click it once again.

![](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-31-8686-AM.png?width=1041&height=521&name=undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-31-8686-AM.png)

 

#### **Uploading National test outcomes by range descriptor**

You may prefer to upload which of five descriptors the result fell into, as opposed to the age-standardised score (or progress measure) detailed above.

 

| Age-standardised score range | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Below 70 | Considerably below average for year group |
| 70 - 84 | Below average for year group |
| 85 - 115 | Average for year group |
| 116 - 129 | Above average for year group |
| 130 – 140 (and above) | Considerably above average for year group |

 

When you navigate to the **student attributes** page by using the menu option **Curriculum \> Student attributes \> Student attributes**. You should click the “**Create a new student attribute**” button, found at the bottom of the page, which will take to the page shown below. Please note this is the same as detailed above, however, there are two significant differences particularly if you wish to use it for the analysis of attainment data (as a “focus group” on the year group page and in the charts and ribbons on the subject page). We do not recommend analysing attainment by the age-standardised (or progress) score as there are too many data points to provide a meaningful analysis, i.e. you would have the KPIs broken down by each of the numbers from 70 to 140.

![](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-29-9539-AM.png?width=670&height=559&name=undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-29-9539-AM.png)

Once uploaded the populated page will resemble the image below:

![Graphical user interface, application, table

Description automatically generated](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-28-6336-AM.png?width=670&height=406&name=undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-28-6336-AM.png)

You will need to place this attribute in a set (by following earlier steps) for it to be visible in a markbook popout, and for use of analysis of attainment data.

 

You can view this information in a data explorer by following the steps below:

1\.

![](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-30-6905-AM.png?width=670&height=106&name=undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-30-6905-AM.png)

2\.

![](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-31-3703-AM.png?width=670&height=140&name=undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-31-3703-AM.png)

3\.

![](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-28-8772-AM.png?width=670&height=310&name=undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-28-8772-AM.png)

4\.

![](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-27-3971-AM.png?width=670&height=284&name=undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-27-3971-AM.png)

  

#### **Tracking National Test data in markbooks**

If you visit [demo.go4schools.com](https://demo.go4schools.com/) and log in using your school email address (you will need to be a school manager or curriculum leader to access our demo site) you will be able to view sample markbooks that track National test data. All of these markbooks can be copied across into an existing subject in your own school (you may need to create a feed rule to create a subject if you don’t already have a reading and numeracy markbook).

 

 ![Graphical user interface, text

Description automatically generated](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-27-7379-AM.png?width=670&height=453&name=undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-27-7379-AM.png)

 

The highlighted subjects are markbooks for the three National tests:

 

![](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-30-4757-AM.png?width=394&height=847&name=undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-30-4757-AM.png)

 

You can upload the age-standardised score into these markbooks and an internal grading scheme will show which of the five descriptors that falls into. Note these only contain the paper tests, pre-introduction of the online tests.

 

![](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-28-3464-AM.png?width=670&height=340&name=undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-28-3464-AM.png)

 

![](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-27-1469-AM.png?width=670&height=319&name=undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-27-1469-AM.png)

#### **Markbooks for standardised scores**

Alternatively you may wish to use the markbooks and analysis tools to compare the standardised score.  In that case it is advisable to set pupils a target of 100 and create a custom residual scheme to group the outcomes, e.g.

![](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-29-1645-AM.png?width=366&height=209&name=undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-29-1645-AM.png)Using the interactive ribbons you could carry out the following type of analysis:

![](https://supporttest.go4schools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-28-1080-AM.png?width=670&height=88&name=undefined-Apr-09-2026-09-40-28-1080-AM.png)

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