About YARC

The York Assessment of Reading for Comprehension is a one-to-one, diagnostic reading assessment that enables teachers to assess pupils’ reading and comprehension skills, from an early age through to the end of secondary school. There are three parts to YARC:

Early reading (ages 4-7):

The early reading suite comprises four short tests specifically designed for 4–7-year-olds or older pupils with reading difficulties. These tests assess a pupil’s phonological skills, alphabetic knowledge and word reading in a time-efficient and flexible way. They are among the most sensitive type of assessments for early readers and may be administered up to three times during a school year, with a gap of at least twelve weeks between sittings, to measure the impact of interventions.

Passage Reading Primary (ages 5–11):

Comprising fiction and non-fiction texts, the passage reading primary suite has been developed to measure the reading (decoding) and comprehension skills of 5–11-year-olds. It assesses accuracy, reading rate and comprehension in a single test. A version of our Single Word Reading Test is also included as a benchmarking test.

Passage Reading Secondary (ages 12-16):

The passage reading secondary suite comprises a series of fiction and non-fiction passages for 11–16-year-olds. Designed to be read silently, the test assesses reading accuracy, fluency and comprehension. A version of our Single Word Reading Test is also included as a benchmarking test.

The recommended uses of the three components of YARC are the following:

• to assess and monitor student progress
• to identify reading problems
• to assess eligibility for access arrangements (exam allowances / concessions)
• to provide diagnostic information in order to plan educational management
• for research purposes