Why does Bedrock need date of birth information for the Reading Test?

Without your learners’ dates of birth, we can’t calculate their results.

The Reading Test assesses learners' reading ability based on their age. Without knowing the learner's age, we can't calculate our recommended metric: Standard Age Score (SAS). Providing the learner's date of birth also allows us to start the test at a suitable difficulty level, leading to a quicker test experience.

In simple terms, the test measures how well someone can read by giving higher scores to stronger readers and lower scores to weaker readers. However, without considering age, the score alone doesn't hold much meaning. It's more meaningful to compare the score to what is expected for a specific age. For example, if a 7-year-old reads at the level of a 13-year-old, they are considered a strong reader. On the other hand, if a 16-year-old reads at the level of a 13-year-old, they are considered a weak reader for their age.

You can find more about all of the Reading Test's metrics here.