Creating and editing your test cycle

Keeping your school’s reading tests organised in cycles ensures monitoring your learners’ tests is as smooth as possible.

What is a cycle?

A 'test cycle' is used to group test windows and tests. It helps you to group data and is a container for test windows. Setting these up in advance allows you to efficiently plan a busy academic calendar with multiple assessments at predetermined times, minimising disruptions for both teachers and learners.

For example, your cycle could be ‘Academic Year 23/24.’ Within this cycle, you could have multiple testing windows (the periods of time when each testing round will be conducted), such as ‘Baseline,’ ‘Mid-year Monitoring,’ and ‘Progress Analysis.’ Then, inside these windows, you would have your individual tests, such as ‘7G1 Test’ and ‘8Y2 Test.’ The tests themselves are entirely flexible to meet your circumstantial needs, meaning you can use them to test as many or as few learners in any combinations you require.

Setting up a new cycle

Every cycle you set up will be visible to all teachers. To set one up:

1. From your ‘teacher dashboard,’ click on the ‘Reading tests’ tab
2. Select ‘Cycles’
3. Click the ‘Add test cycle’ button
4. Enter a name for your cycle; try to use as clear of a name as possible
5. Enter a description for your cycle so the teachers in your school are clear about the purpose of the cycle
6. Click ‘Add test cycle’ to confirm your cycle, or click ‘Cancel’ to abandon the new cycle creation

Adding a cycle at the same time as adding a test

You can also set up a new cycle during the creation of a test. You will also be prompted to create a new testing window at the same time. Find out more about testing windows here.

Editing a test cycle

From your ‘Cycles’ page, you can very easily edit test cycles you have previously created.

1. From your ‘teacher dashboard,’ click on the ‘Reading Test’ tab
2. Select ‘Cycles’
3. Select the cycle you wish to edit
4. Click the pencil button: 
5. Edit the name or description as required
6. Click ‘Save changes’ to save your edits, or ‘Cancel’ to discard your edits

Deleting a cycle

In a similar fashion to editing your current cycles, you can easily delete cycles.

1. From your ‘teacher dashboard,’ click on the ‘Reading Test’ tab
2. Select ‘Cycles’
3. Select the cycle you wish to edit
4. Click the pencil button: 
5. Click ‘Delete’
6. Confirm you want to delete the cycle by clicking ‘Delete,’ or cancel the deletion by clicking ‘Cancel’