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Working memory test: free pilot for schools

See how much each pupil can hold in mind, so teaching can work with it. Join the free pilot and help us build new norms for UK pupils aged between 7 and 16 years old.

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What is working memory?

Working memory is the mental workspace we use to hold information in mind and work with it for a few seconds. We use it all the time in class: following a set of instructions, keeping hold of the start of a sentence while reading the end, or doing a sum in our heads.

Working memory capacity varies a lot between pupils of the same age. Pupils with a weaker working memory often go unnoticed. It can look like not listening, losing track partway through a task, or slow progress, when the real barrier is how much the pupil can hold in mind at once.

Working memory has three parts. Each plays a different role in learning, and the Bedrock test measures each one with its own task.

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The three tasks

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About the test

  • About 15 minutes per pupil.
  • Taken in a web browser on a laptop or PC with a mouse, wearing headphones.
  • Spoken instructions guide the pupil. Each task starts with practice.
  • Results go to a secure staff dashboard, which your school will be given access to.

What the test does

  • It helps staff understand how each pupil's working memory affects their learning, so they can adapt their teaching.
  • It doesn't improve working memory. The evidence shows working memory can't be trained, so the aim is to teach around it.
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Why we are running a pilot

At the moment, pupils' scores are compared against established norms that stop at 15 years 9 months. We are building Bedrock's own norms from today's pupils, across every age between 7 and 16 years old, including the older age groups those norms don't cover. To do that we need results from a wide range of schools and pupils.

What your school gets

  • Free use of the test during the pilot.
  • A working memory profile for every pupil who takes part, on a secure staff dashboard.
  • A say in shaping a new tool built for UK schools.

What we ask of your school

  • Test pupils aged between 7 and 16 years old.
  • Test each pupil twice: Test 1 and Test 2, about two weeks apart and no later than 30 days.
  • Follow the testing guidance closely, in school, on a laptop or PC with a mouse and wired headphones. The quality of the results depends on it.

How we use the data

  • Results are used to build Bedrock's norms and to check how consistent the test is.
  • Norms are built from anonymised results: age and scores, never names.
  • Data from your school is only ever shown to your school's staff.
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Pilot guide

Read the full details

Download the pilot guide for everything your school needs to know, including how to set up the testing room.

Download the pilot guide (PDF)