Guidance

NCA tools website

Information for teachers and local authorities about how to manage NCA tools passwords and users.

This guidance was withdrawn on

This guidance has been replaced by ‘NCA tools: managing access and troubleshooting’.

This guidance will be updated for the 2017 test cycle shortly.

Passwords

You should not share your password for the NCA tools website.

Create a password

Existing users

All passwords expire at the end of each academic year. You need to create a new password the first time you log in after that.

  1. Click on Create new password on the homepage of NCA tools.
  2. Enter your registered email address and press ‘Submit’.
  3. Go to the inbox for your registered email address. You will receive an email from assessments@education.gov.uk (this may take several minutes to be sent). Click on the link in the email.
  4. In the new window, enter your new password, confirm this password by entering it a second time and click ‘Submit and log in’. You will receive a second email confirming your password has been changed.

New users

If you have just been set up as a nominated user, you will receive an automatically generated password in an email from assessments@education.gov.uk. You will need to change your password at first log in.

If you have not yet received an email, it is likely that your account has not been created successfully. Please contact your super user to rectify this in the first instance.

Change your password

You can change your password at any time.

  1. Log in to NCA tools.
  2. Select the ‘Change your password’ link on the homepage.
  3. Enter your current password in the space provided.
  4. Enter your new password and confirm by re-entering in the space provided.
  5. Click on the ‘Change password’ button.

If you have forgotten your password

If you forget your password you can create a new one.

  1. Click on the Create new password link in the ‘Log in’ feature box on the homepage.
  2. Enter your registered email address and press ‘Submit’.
  3. Go to the inbox for your registered email address and click on the link contained within the email sent from assessments@education.gov.uk.
  4. In the new window, enter your new password. Confirm your new password by entering it a second time.
  5. Click ‘Submit and log in’.

Password format

All passwords must be at least 8 characters in length and include 3 of the following:

  • 1 upper case character (eg A, B, C)
  • 1 lower case character (eg a, b, c)
  • 1 numeric character (eg 1, 2, 3)
  • 1 special character (eg £, &, %)

Managing details

Registered email address

If you are a super user and don’t know your registered email address, contact the national curriculum assessments helpline.

If you are a nominated user, ask your super user to check your account details.

Registered email addresses must not be a web-based public email address, eg Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail.

Other details

All users can edit their own details via the ‘Manage your profile’ page. After you have logged in:

  • navigate to the details that correspond to you
  • click on the ‘Edit details’ button
  • change any or all of the details
  • select ‘Submit’

Who can access NCA tools

Each school or local authority (LA) can have 5 NCA tools users. The same users do not need to remain active for the length of the test cycle.

If you are the headteacher or LA super user you can add and delete users at any time throughout the test cycle. You should review nominated users to ensure they are still the most appropriate people to have access to NCA tools.

Creating new users

Once you have created a user, an email will be sent to their registered email address within 1 hour.

If the new user has not received their password after 2 hours please:

  • double check the email address you have entered
  • check that your system is set up to receive our emails

To make sure you receive emails from the NCA tools website, please ensure your ICT department accepts all email addresses ending in ‘education.gov.uk’. If your system cannot be amended in this way, add assessments@education.gov.uk to your organisation’s safe senders email list. This will allow emails to be sent straight through to recipients and not blocked by spam filters.

If you have tried these suggestions but the password still hasn’t been received, contact the national curriculum assessments helpline.

About NCA tools

Schools and LAs should use the NCA tools website to support administration of the national curriculum tests, including the phonics screening check, and submission of key stage 2 teacher assessment.

Help and support

Standards and Testing Agency

Email assessments@education.gov.uk

National curriculum assessments helpline 0300 303 3013

For general enquiries about national curriculum tests.

Published 10 February 2014
Last updated 28 August 2014 + show all updates
  1. Updated the date for when users must change their passwords for the 2014-2015 assessment cycle.

  2. First published.