What is the difference between Initial and Diagnostic Assessment?
Initial assessment gives the early warning signs that someone has poor basic skills. It helps tutors position learners against the National Standards for Adult Literacy and Numeracy so that an appropriate learning programme can be identified. Diagnostic assessment builds on initial assessment, to provide more in-depth information about an individual’s strengths and weaknesses, enabling tutors to design a programme of work suitable to the needs of the individual learner. A revised version of The Basic Skills Agency, ‘Initial Assessment Pack’ for literacy and numeracy has been produced, and mapped to the national standards for adult literacy and numeracy. You can order the Initial Assessment Pack from our Resources section. A suite of diagnostic assessment materials for use with adult learners is available from ABSSU. All tools produced have been matched to the National Standards, the Adult Core Curricula for Literacy and Numeracy, the Pre-entry Curriculum and the ESOL curriculum. To vie
