Broadly defined, a school readiness assessment is a group or individually administered cognitive assessment that explores whether a child is ready to benefit from formal education.

In addition, the assessment allows us to determine if the child’s development is progressing at an expected rate for their age group.

It is important to note that initially a screening battery is used to determine a learners school readiness. Children need to reach a certain score to be considered developed age-appropriately. Parents of learners scoring below the required field can decide if a more in-depth assessment should be conducted in order to address the concerned developmental areas brought to light.

A school readiness assessment is normally done towards the end of an academic year.

Currently the National Education Policy states that it is compulsory for children to enter Grade 1 in the year in which they turn seven. Since children are compelled by law to formally commence with their education, school readiness assessments are not used as regularly as they were in previous years.

A formal application for exemption must be made to the Department of Education should a child not be school ready. Learners therefore often commence with Grade 1 and experience learning barriers due to potential developmental difficulties that were not identified early on.