PAT Tuhituhi Te Pihinga | PAT Writing Foundation is a paper-based, standardised writing assessment for ākonga in Year 3 and 4. It aligns to the English learning area of the New Zealand Curriculum. 

In this assessment, ākonga write extended texts for a curriculum-aligned purpose – to persuade, narrate, recount, or explain – which are then manually marked by kaiako. Four tasks have been trialled by NZCER and are now available for use through NZCER Assist.  

PAT Tuhituhi Te Pihinga uses an adapted version of the original PAT Tuhituhi rubric to evaluate how ākonga communicate and develop their ideas. The adapted rubric focuses more on early writing development, including ideas, organisation, language choices, and spelling conventions.  

NZCER has intentionally designed this paper-based format to support valid, reliable assessment of younger writers while also providing kaiako with meaningful information about achievement and progress. When interpreted alongside other forms of writing evidence, PAT Tuhituhi Te Pihinga can provide a comprehensive picture of learners’ early writing capabilities.

As with all our assessments, the primary purpose of PAT Tuhituhi is to support teaching and learning. It is intended to be a formative, low-stakes assessment – one of several approaches schools should use to determine how ākonga are progressing, rather than a solitary indicator of progress.


This  writing assessment from NZCER is now available for schools to use through NZCER Assist. If you do not have an NZCER Assist account, please contact our Assessment Services team. assessmentservices@nzcer.org.nz


Key information


You can add PAT Tuhituhi via the subscriptions screen if you are already signed up to NZCER Assist. If your school doesn't have an NZCER Assist account please contact our Assessment Services team and we will help you get set up.


Please note there is a $3.50 per student, per assessment fee for PAT Tuhituhi. Te Pihinga