Frequently Asked Questions

Can you send me a copy of the PASS survey questions?

With the new HTML reports you will be able to see the survey questions yourself, however we usually advise against focusing on the individual questions. The reason for this is that the statements have been designed in such a way to ask similar things in different ways in order to validate the responses. Students respond in a split second, so to take one response in isolation could be misleading.

In addition, we cannot advise which questions link to which Attitudinal Factor in order to preserve the integrity of the product.

How reliable/accurate are PASS results?

PASS was established by Educational Psychologists and standardised on 600,000 children, so the results are statistically reliable in measuring highly subjective and sensitive issues. Your results will be set against national benchmarks, enabling to see how your pupils compare to the national picture.

What response options are available to the students?

The scale for level 1 comprises of 2 options: Yes, No

For Levels 2, 3 and 4, there are 4 options: Yes, a lot; Yes, a little; No, not much; No, not at all.

There is no option to say ‘I do not know’, or to move on to the next screen before all the statements have been responded to.

What should we tell parents about PASS? Do you have a template letter that I can send them?

Please see our ‘Information for Parents’ section for a helpful and simple summary of information about PASS that is appropriate for a parent audience.

Why does the green banding start at 31% and how do I change it?

The Educational Psychologists who developed the test felt that the focus of PASS needed to be on identifying the most at-risk students. You can change the colours and the ranges using conditional formatting in Excel to suit your own school’s needs.

Can I read out the questions to younger students who wouldn't be able to read them?

Yes. For Level 1, the questions are automatically read out

For other Levels it is acceptable to read the questions out to students who require that support.

What other support can I give to students completing the survey?

Please see our ‘Testing SEND and EAL students’ page for further details on this. We advise that for younger students and/or those requiring a Reader or Practical Assistant that the survey is completed in a one-to-one environment with a trusted adult to encourage and support honest answers due to the sensitive nature of the survey.

Is the survey available in other languages?

The digital test is available only in English, however we can provide paper translations of the questions in 26 different languages, including Arabic, Hindi, Polish, Romanian and Russian. Please contact us to find out more.

Is there a paper or PDF version of the PASS Interventions?

PASS Interventions can only be accessed via Testwise. This is so that the site can be regularly updated with new interventions that are relevant to current circumstances.