QTS Literacy Skills Test Guide 2021

This guide on QTS Literacy Skills Test, we shall provide you insights on what to expect and how to succeed step-by-step.

Starting-point Resources

  • The secret to acing and passing your literacy skills test is by practicing a lot. There are no short cuts, unfortunately! Click here to get a hold of practice QTS literacy tests here.
  • Check our verbal reasoning guide. You will find lots of tips, insider secrets and more practice tests!
  • Check our success guide for QTS numeracy skills test here

Get a copy of our Ultimate Assessment Day and Interview Guide here. It includes tips, insider-secrets and tricks which you will find useful and helpful.

What is in this literacy skills test guide?

This guide includes hints, secrets and top tips that will help you in passing your literacy skills test. Aside from that, we will also provide you all the essential and necessary knowledge that you would need to know to help you improve your test performance.

What is the literacy skills test?

Part of the QTS professional skills testing, the literacy skills test is used to assess a general skill that you need to fulfill your role as a teacher. Take note, this test does not assess your teaching knowledge or the subject you are specializing in but rather it tests your ability to understand and interpret written data.

Useful literacy skills test video

Check this video from University of Cumbria. This will provide you a fast overview of the test.

Why is the literacy skills test important?

You will be required to pass this test for you to be able to gain the Qualified Teacher status in the UK.

Where will I take my literacy skills test?

The QTS literacy skills test is facilitated at Learn Direct centre. To find one nearest to you, click here . To book a schedule and register, click here

How long does the test take?

The test takes about 90 minutes.

What should I expect in my literacy skills test?

Now that we have covered the basics, we shall now dive deeper and get into more details about this test.

The literary skills test is computer based test and it includes four sections:

  1. Spelling
  2. Punctuation
  3. Grammar
  4. Comprehension

Let us take a little closer on these sections:

Spelling

Spelling is the first section of the literacy skills test. You have to keep in mind that you cannot go back to review or change your answers. Hence, ensure that you get it right the first time you answer.

In this section of test, you will be provided with a set of headphones. Listen carefully to the questions and choose the right answer on the screen.

Do not worry as the words that you will be asked to spell are related to the teaching world. So, do not panic! You will not be asked to spell strange technical scientific Latin words.

This test consists of 10 marks.

Tip: One way to improve spelling is to read actively. Active reading will help you scrutinize each word. Do not just skim through it. You would need to concentrate a lot. This is an acquired skill and it gets easier over time. So what are you waiting for? Practice today!

Spelling Test

  1. Visit Oxford online dictionary page . You will find a list of misspelled words.
  2. Print the page and give it to a friend. Ask them to read the words aloud while you spell it to them
  3. At the end of the test, check how many words you got wrong. Collate them into a single list and write them correctly 20 times each.

Punctuation

This section is composed of 15 marks which is why you would need to give your full attention on it. In this test, you will be given a piece of writing which you would need to punctuate.

Do not worry. You will not have to write an actual paragraph nor will you need to add or remove any sentences. All you need to do is ensure you make the correct punctuation mark/s.

Will you be able to spot incorrect punctuation? Could you see where a comma or period should be placed? Do you understand colons, semi-colons and apostrophes ?

Check this page. We highly recommend it.

Over-punctuation in the literacy skills test

There is a chance where you would over-punctuate. Do not worry too much about this as…

  • You will not get extra points for extra or non-essential punctuation. Hence, do not go overly excited and put all the unnecessary commas.
  • As long as your punctuation is correct even if it is not necessary you will not be marked down for it.

Get some more practice! Click here

Useful punctuation videos

Check out the videos below. You will find all the important information you would need.

Grammar

In this section, there are 10 to 12 marks. This assessment test will check your knowledge on the usage of grammar not grammatical terms.

You will need to know the difference between a sentence that makes grammatical sense and one that does not. You will have to edit a complete passage of text and you will have to insert the correct choice.

Comprehension

This test consists of 10 to 12 marks. In this test, you will be assessed on your ability to understand, examine and analyze a section of written text examples.

Check out this video about basics of reading comprehension.

In this portion of the test, you will be assessed if you:

  • Can identify the most important points in the article
  • Can fish out the main facts and key points
  • Can draw correct conclusions and make accurate deductions
  • Can digest and summarize the information in your own words
  • Can tell the difference between fact and opinion

This section of the test is easy to practice. They are easy to understand and become better at. Outside of the teaching world, these tests are often called verbal reasoning tests which are often being used by huge companies in the UK.

Nothing could improve your ability in this area other than practice. Thus, we recommend that you practice on these tests and be prepared to take the test with confidence.

Tip: check out our verbal reasoning guide and gain more advice, tips and tricks!

When will I find out my score?

As soon as you finish the test, you get your results immediately since it is the computer who is checking your test. You will be given a score card. There is no certification in this test so be careful with your score card.

To pass this test, you will need 29 correct answers.

Essential Tips for Literacy Skills Test Preparation

  1. Read- the better reader you are the better scores you will get. Practice active reading every day for 30 minutes and for sure you will improve.
  2. Brush up on your grammar and punctuation- go through all the practice exercises and read the resource pages. Watch the videos as well.

Download this useful tool before you leave- 4-Steps to Literacy & Verbal Reasoning Test Success

Useful Literacy Skills Test Resources

Here are a few useful links which you will be able to find on the web:

We hope that you find this guide useful and helpful! We wish you luck on your QTC Literacy Skills Test!