And with more emphasis being placed on continual assessment throughout the year, software such as the AltaSchools System can help take the pressure off both teachers and pupils while ensuring that all areas of the maths curriculum are taught and understood adequately.

The Alta system is tailored to the Northern Ireland maths curriculum and is aimed at assisting in the teaching of pupils between five and 14.

In an independent evaluation of the software carried out by the Council for Curriculum Examinations and Assessment, 98% of 150 teachers surveyed said it developed mathematical skills.

Eighty per cent of teachers said that the system, which is now available to schools throughout the province through the Northern Ireland Classroom 2000 schools network, had a significant impact on their pupils' ability.

Barry Hagan from Belfast-based Alta Systems, the company behind the software, explained the reason for the success: "It produces a diagnostic profile of the strengths and weaknesses of the pupil which is tied into the curriculum.

"Using the system, you can see the progress through the year rather than having to wait until the end of the year for exam results.

"It marks pupils work immediately and gives pupils colour coded diagnostic profiles of their results. This informative approach allows teachers to help pupils build on their strengths and work on their weaknesses."

Pupils can work on practice questions before progressing onto the actual live test. Each time they answer a question, the computer logs their response and displays the results in an easy to understand format.

It also identifies areas where pupils are experiencing difficulties so that they do further practice before sitting the test and progressing onto the next level. Teachers can also review how a pupil reached a specific answer which allows them to assist pupils in their learning.

The system encourages pupils to progress at their own pace and take responsibility for their own learning. It adjusts automatically to each pupil by selecting each question based on that pupil's answers to previous questions.

Pupils can replay exactly what they did, refer to model answers and, with their teachers' help, build on their strengths and work on their weaknesses. The information builds up and moves with the pupil from class to class, teacher to teacher, school to school.

"It's up to the teacher to decide when the child is ready to take a test," explained Mr Hagan.

"They can go through the practice questions and identify where there is a problem, so for example, they may see that a child is having a difficulty with fractions so they need to work on that before they move onto the next level.

"In the same way, if they can see a child is finding a particular area easy then they can give them more challenging questions or homework so the pupil is always advancing.

"The pupil can practice away without actually having an effect on their profile and teachers can see exactly where they are having problems by checking how they came to answer. In that way it is also helpful because it shows that the pupil knew how to do the question rather than just guessing the answer correctly."

The privacy of pupils is also a major concern under the system and only the relevant teacher and school principal can access pupil profiles. However, as a pupil progresses through school, the profile follows them.

Mr Hagan explained: "The record moves to the relevant teacher. When a teacher takes a class before she meets everyone in the class she can look down and get a record of the pupils and see how they have been performing over the years. We have had great feedback from the schools who are using the system and are looking to roll it out to schools in England and Scotland eventually although they are years behind Northern Ireland."