What is Assessment setup?
The assessment setup options allow schools to define the assessments they track, organise them into sheets, and configure how results are collected. This structure ensures consistent data collection and simplifies performance monitoring across the school.
Assessment types
🔒 The actions within this section are controlled by the Assessment type setup and Grade scheme setup permissions.
Assessment types define the formats your school uses to consistently collect and track student performance. To begin, go to Tools > Apps > Assessment > Assessment types.
Here, you'll find all existing types divided across three tabs:
Grade: results must match a predefined list of values
Numeric: results are whole numbers or decimals within a set range
Comment: free text, up to a defined character limit
When viewing an assessment type, you can see which Assessment sheets it is currently in use on. For more about editing those columns, refer to the Assessment sheets section below.
💡 If you're no longer using a type but want to preserve existing data, mark it as inactive. This stops it from being included in lists throughout Satchel One.
Grade assessments
When creating a new grade assessment you’ll need to enter a unique name and select an active grade scheme from school’s list.
Grade schemes can be managed separately at Tools > Apps > Assessment > Grade schemes.
Each scheme includes a set of grades, defined by:
Code – The short code that can clearly identify the grade
Numerical value – Used for analysis of grade schemes, e.g. comparing target to predicted
Description – Context on what this grade means and how it should be used
Position – Controls the order of the grades within the grade scheme (e.g. A* above A)
Only the code and position are required fields. When adding grades, the system auto-selects the next available position so you can add multiple quickly by entering a code and pressing Enter.
When editing a grade scheme, changes won’t affect previously entered results. The system preserves historic configurations in the background.
⚠️ Once you've assigned a grade scheme to an assessment type, it cannot be changed later. To update it, modify the grade scheme itself.
Numerical assessments
Numeric assessment types support two validation modes:
Integer – accepts whole numbers only
Decimal – accepts numbers up to two decimal places
You can optionally define a minimum and maximum value. Staff entering results will be prevented from saving values outside this range.
Comment assessments
Comment-based assessments allow staff to enter longer-form free text. These are often used alongside grades or scores to provide additional insight on progress.
Each comment type includes a maximum character count, up to 1000 characters. This limit can be used instructively to help communicate the purpose of a particular assessment.
Assessment sets
🔒 The actions within this section are controlled by the Assessment set setup permission
Assessment sets group results that share a common purpose or timeframe. They’re often used to collect data for specific reporting windows, e.g. by exam board or season.
Each student can have one result per assessment type within each assessment set. This allows you to track progress across distinct periods without overwriting historical data.
Go to Tools > Apps > Assessment > Assessment sets to view and manage all sets configured for your school.
A new assessment set can be created with the following information:
Name – a short identifier, e.g. Y10 Spring Term Report
Description – Optional context to clarify its use
View only – Enable this to prevent staff from editing any results within this set
Hidden – Enable this to exclude the results on this set from all sheets and exports across the platform
💡 If you’re no longer using a set but want to retain historical data, mark it as inactive. This will stop it being included in lists around Satchel One
Assessment sheets
🔒 The actions within this section are controlled by Assessment sheet setup permission.
Sheets control which assessments staff can see and update. Each sheet contains a series of columns, each representing an assessment type.
Go to Tools > Apps > Assessment > Assessment sheets to manage your school’s existing sheets or create a new one.
Use the create button to start making a brand new sheet. Each sheet needs a name that will make its contents easily identifiable to staff and can optionally have a longer description for more information.
If you don’t want to start from scratch can use an existing sheet as a starting point by using the copy action.
Once you sheet has been made, you can add columns to it or update its assessment set from the options menu ( ⫶ ).
Assessment type – What data is being collected
Assessment set – Which set the results belong to; this can be changed at a later date.
Display name – The column header as it appears on the sheet
Display order – Where within the sheet you want the column positioned
View only – Enable this option to prevent staff from editing its results
💡 If the linked assessment set is marked as View only or Hidden, the columns will automatically inherit that state.