Guidance and resources to support teaching and assessment in primary school science.

The Teacher Assessment in Primary Science (TAPS) project was developed by Bath Spa University and initially funded by the Primary Science Teaching Trust (PSTT) to work collaboratively with schools across the UK to develop resources in support of teaching and assessment in primary science.

The project aims for increasingly valid, reliable and manageable teacher assessment, with a ‘formative to summative’ pyramid model promoting the use of assessment for learning in the classroom. Focused Assessment lesson plans and examples have been created to help apply these principles to practice.

TAPS worked with 93 project schools across all four countries in the UK, becoming an accepted model of best practice in teacher assessment. TAPS has supported over 11,000 teachers, both in and beyond project schools, with their primary science teaching and assessment. TAPS resources are available free online and have been downloaded over 232,000 times and in 123 countries.

To find out more the TAPS project, see TAPS impact booklet or videos on the project playlist. If you would like to offer further examples, or provide the TAPS team with feedback, please email: primary.science@bathspa.ac.uk.

Impactful professional development programme

The Focus4TAPS programme draws together research from the Teacher Assessment in Primary Science (TAPS) project into a one-year package of training and resources to support teaching, learning and assessment. The three-day professional development programme was designed to support teachers make the most of the TAPS resources, collaboratively developing their practice in primary science and assessment.

A randomised control trial of the Focus4TAPS programme was funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) in 2019-21. This efficacy trial with 121 schools found a positive impact on pupil attainment. The EEF/DfE funded a capacity building phase in 2023-24 to support the roll out of the Focus4TAPS programme and an effectiveness trial is just taking place across England, to see whether there is impact at a larger scale.

Focus4TAPS Facilitators based across the country welcome enquiries about joining future professional development courses. Interested groups should express make contact via this form or by emailing primary.science@bathspa.ac.uk.