Spot needs early in Year 7

See each pupil’s strengths and challenges, including needs that went unnoticed at primary, whether you screen a year group or just the pupils you’re concerned about.

Book a call

See a sample report

Illustration: a teacher reviews a Student Analysis screen of pupils’ need levels, with the Talamo cat beside him. A card titled ‘Year 7 · Autumn screening’ (example data) shows 172 pupils assessed and 8 in progress, a need-level bar from low to very high, and 25 pupils to prioritise.

Illustration: a teacher reviews pupils’ need levels with the Talamo cat, next to a ‘Year 7 · Autumn screening’ card (example data): a need-level bar from low to very high, 172 assessed, 8 in progress and 25 pupils to prioritise.

1,300+ schools

use Talamo across the UK

25,000+ pupils

screened with Talamo

Signposted by the BDA

dyslexia screening, ages 10–16

Why secondary schools use Talamo

Built for secondary schools

Year 7 transition screening

Screen your whole intake on one measure, whichever primary school pupils came from, so you have a comparable baseline early in the year.

Catch needs missed at primary

Reading loads grow and lessons move faster at secondary. Screening can surface pupils who need support but have never been identified.

Evidence to support access arrangements

Results can support your evidence-gathering, including for Part A of JCQ Form 8. Talamo is a screening tool, so it doesn’t replace the access arrangements process or a qualified assessor’s judgement.

Clear data for inclusion planning

See patterns of need across a class or year group, so you can plan intervention groups and support. With a statutory Year 8 reading test confirmed, an earlier picture of reading helps you act sooner.

“

The assessments are really easy for us to administer, especially as we can complete a few at a time.

Anna Honeyands

SENDCo, The Blue School

Book a call about screening in your school

The assessments

Three assessments for Years 7 to 11

Run one, two or all three, depending on what you want to understand. If a pupil takes more than one, a full report brings their results and recommendations together.

Talamo test screen, Letter Pattern Matching: three letter tiles, A, n and A, with the two matching letters selected, on the starry test background.

Cognitive & Dyslexia

Reading, spelling, phonological awareness and processing speed, measured alongside verbal and visual reasoning, so you can see whether a pupil’s profile is consistent with dyslexia or part of a wider pattern.

Ages 7–16

35–45 mins

Dyslexia risk

Level of Need

Explore Cognitive & Dyslexia

Cognitive & Dyslexia

Ages 7–16

35–45 mins

Dyslexia risk

Level of Need

Explore Cognitive & Dyslexia

Talamo test screen, Left or right: a row of five fish in which the four outer fish face left and the middle fish faces right, with Right selected.

Executive Function

Attention, inhibitory control, working memory, flexibility and planning, measured directly rather than through observation alone, so you can see which skills are holding a pupil back.

Ages 7–16

35–45 mins

Executive function profile

Level of Need

Explore Executive Function

Executive Function

Attention, inhibitory control, working memory, flexibility and planning, measured directly rather than through observation alone, so you can see which skills are holding a pupil back.

Ages 7–16

35–45 mins

Executive function profile

Level of Need

Explore Executive Function

Talamo test screen, Addition: the sum 24 + 68 with boxes for typing the answer, on the starry test background.

Maths & Dyscalculia

Number and quantity understanding, arithmetic fluency, maths vocabulary and word problems, measured skill by skill, so you can see where a pupil’s maths difficulty sits.

Ages 7–16

35–45 mins

Signs of dyscalculia

Level of Need

Explore Maths & Dyscalculia

Maths & Dyscalculia

Number and quantity understanding, arithmetic fluency, maths vocabulary and word problems, measured skill by skill, so you can see where a pupil’s maths difficulty sits.

Ages 7–16

35–45 mins

Signs of dyscalculia

Level of Need

Explore Maths & Dyscalculia

Explore the tests

From screening to every pupil’s next steps

Pupils take the assessments in school, around your timetable. A person at Talamo checks every report before you see it, normally within 48 hours.

Screen

Pupils log in with their own Login ID and work on a school laptop or desktop with headphones, in small groups, whole classes or a rolling programme that suits your rooms. Spoken instructions and practice questions mean no specialist is needed.

Class or small groups

35–45 min, can be split

Teacher or TA supervises

A school computer suite set up for screening: the Talamo task menu on each screen, with red and blue headphones on the desks.

Individual reports

Each pupil gets a report with their strengths and challenges, standard scores, screening indicators (such as dyslexia risk) and a Level of Need, plus practical strategies for subject teachers, extra support and home. Reports also flag when a pupil is worth reviewing for access arrangements.

Standard scores

Indicators and Level of Need

Practical strategies

See Samuel’s sample report

How to support Samuel
For subject teachers. Practical strategies for secondary lessons.
Mark phrasing in complex sentences
Because the reading-speed score was low.
Help Samuel split a long curriculum sentence into meaningful phrases, model how it should sound, then read the unmarked version.
Structure extended work with checkpoints
Because the attention score was low.
Divide extended independent work into clear stages, each with an expected outcome, and mark each stage as it’s completed.
Plan extra time for demanding work
Because processing speed was low.
Build extra thinking time into complex questions, discussions and extended writing.

How to support Samuel
For subject teachers.
Mark phrasing in complex sentences
Because reading speed was low.
Split long sentences into phrases, model them, then reread.
Checkpoints for extended work
Because attention was low.
Clear stages to tick off one by one.

Cohort reports

See a class or year group together: which pupils to prioritise, the needs they share, and strategies for whole-class teaching, intervention groups and further investigation.

Class and year group view

Priority pupils

Intervention groups

How to support Year 7
Approaches that help the whole group, built into everyday lessons.
Compare examples and non-examples
Useful whole-class foundation.
Put a correct example beside one that looks similar but isn’t, and ask pupils to spot the important difference.
Move gradually from modelling to independence
Useful whole-class foundation.
Show a worked example, complete the next one together, then remove part of the support.
Retrieve what the new learning depends on
Useful whole-class foundation.
Start with a short, low-stakes recap of the knowledge pupils will need in the lesson.

How to support Year 7
For the whole group, in everyday lessons.
Compare examples and non-examples
Ask pupils to spot what makes a correct example different.
Model, then step back
Worked example, then one together, then remove support.

See a sample report

Book a call

These are screening results, not a diagnosis. They show which pupils may need a closer look.

Secondary schools using Talamo

See all case studies

Sir Roger Manwood’s School

Secondary

A selective grammar school for ages 11 to 18 in Sandwich, Kent. Its SEN specialist teacher has screened Year 9 classes with Talamo: more than 150 pupils in autumn 2025.

Case study coming soon

Secondary schools