Thursday 19 February 2009

TDA Literacy Skills Test

All trainee teachers in England have to pass Skills Tests in literacy, numeracy and ICT in order to meet the standards for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).

These tests are free of charge have to be passed in the final year before QTS is awarded. Tests can be taken at centres around the country, which are often co located with ITT providers.

I decided to take the literacy test first because I knew I'd have no trouble at all passing it. The test is in four parts: spelling, punctuation, grammar and comprehension. There is a time limit of 45 minutes and the pass mark is 60%.

Spelling:
In this section you are confronted by ten sentences, which each have an important word missing. The words are read out through the headphones and you have to type them into the corresponding spaces in each sentence.

Punctuation:
In this section a short passage is displayed. Most of the original punctuation has been removed. You have to read the passage and correct the punctuation.

Grammar:
This section contains three tasks, all of which are very similar in nature. Each task requires you to complete three incomplete passages. You have to choose the most appropriate string of words to complete each passage.

Comprehension:
This section contains three tasks, all of which are very similar in nature. Each task requires you to read a lengthy piece of writing on an education-related theme. You then have to answer questions about the content.