Computerised tests developed by a team at the University of Hull's psychology department could play an important part in Government plans to assess all five-year-olds in reading, writing and arithmetic from 1998.

While about half of England's local authorities already carry out some kind of baseline assessment, they have always relied on teachers' assessments of pupils' work.

This has sparked fears among teaching unions that a national programme will mean increased workloads. It also places a great burden on teachers not to be subjective. The designers of the Hull system claim it offers a completely objective way of assessing children, who treat the tests as a computer game.

The test needs only a single computer. Children can be tested individually under a classroom assistant's supervision while the teacher remains with the class.

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Now the researchers are writing to the Department for Education and Employment asking whether the Government wants to become involved in the project. They say the test can rate the skills and intelligence of children who do not possess English as their first language against those who do.

In one exercise, the child has to chase a spaceship around the screen. This measures hand-eye coordination and indicates whether the child is likely to have difficulties in writing.

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Another involves matching up characters which are upside down or on one side - an adaptation of a common intelligence test.

The use of colourful cartoon characters helps to make the program popular with young children.

Dr Chris Singleton, who is heading the Hull team, said: "A very important feature is to produce tests which children find non-threatening. It is difficult to test young children because they become bored and don't give of their best. While children are playing these games, the computer is assessing their abilities and cognitive skills."

The tests are based on the CoPS 1 system, developed in Hull to help early diagnosis of dyslexia and already used in more than 500 schools. Eventually the program could be marketed throughout Europe. Versions are already planned for Sweden and Norway.

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