It is good to remember that this snapshot picture of student achievement will be used to prompt kaiako to discuss  teaching and learning in writing. PAT Tuhituhi results can be used to:

• indicate the writing skills and capabilities ākonga can demonstrate in a specific writing context • indicate how ākonga feel about writing

• identify patterns of strengths and areas of need for individual ākonga, and for classes and groups • share information with ākonga about their writing achievement

• share information about ākonga writing achievement with whānau and caregivers.

Ultimately, results from this assessment should be used to inform decisions made on the teaching, methods, and resources that will be most suitable for ākonga.


Finding a focus for Tuhituhi, therefore the genre, is important. Ministry of Education writing sources were evaluated for their description of these genres:

Narrate: Ākonga write creative, fictional stories. Writing uses narrative techniques to describe imagined experiences and includes characters, settings, and plot.

Recount: Ākonga retell real events or experiences from their lives. Writing is personal, descriptive, sequential, and reflective.

Explain: Ākonga write to provide information about a particular topic. Writing guides the reader through subject matter, often explaining “how” and “why” something happens.

Persuade: Ākonga write to convince a reader of an opinion or argument, using reasoning, facts and details, and emotive language.


There are 12 tasks across Year 5 - 10. As with other PATs, it is possible to use an assessment at a year level other than that which is recommended. Whilst assessment tasks were developed with specific year levels in mind, they were trialled across a range of year levels. Kaiako should consider the age and knowledge of their ākonga, and how appropriate the context represented in the task will be for them at a specific moment in time. Please note, the scoring does not take age into account meaning that any ākonga who participates can have their score marked against a common scale.



The genre you choose can be based on a one of multiple reasons, depending on your teachers' strengths and needs. Review the rubrics to be informed about what exactly is being scored. Choose the one that matches your context and the conversations you need to have. Some ideas could be:

  1. The work in Structured Literacy - do your PAT:Reading Comprehension scores suggest students have strength in narrative - does that translate into their writing?
  2. Kaiako have been focusing on a genre - what can students do independently when asked to write on their own?
  3. Planning for the year - is there a genre where cohorts of students show strength or needs - how can this inform planning?
  4. Focusing on editing and planning - choose any genre
  5. Choose the genre that students struggle with the most to build kaiako knowledge of the skills and knowledge students need to learn.


For support in choosing a genre please email: educationadvisor@nzcer.org.nz or call: 04 802 1386