Brief Early Skills & Support Index (BESSI)

The Brief Early Skills & Support Index (BESSI) questionnaire has been developed by Prof Claire Hughes and her colleagues at the University of Cambridge and validated for use with reception- and nursery-aged children. The BESSI questionnaire is a promising teacher/nursery staff screening tool that is suitable for children aged 2.5 to 5.5 and provides a broader perspective upon school readiness than previous measures. Current research aims to determine whether the BESSI is appropriate for use in ethnically diverse areas.

A description of the test is listed below:

Hughes, C., Daly, I., Foley, S., White, N., & Devine, R. T. (2015). Brit J Educ Psychol 85, 332-356.

We are happy for teachers, researchers and other professionals working with nursery- and reception-aged children to use the BESSI questionnaire for non-commercial academic research by tertiary educational institutions and would appreciate hearing about this work. Copies of the BESSI questionnaire can be downloaded here along with a coding manual, which provides information about using and scoring the questionnaire, subject to acceptance of the licence terms.

For all other enquiries for use of the BESSI questionnaire, including commercial use or use for the purpose of determining school readiness of children relating to school admittance, please get in touch with us to discuss this further.