Heads say Sats results’ do not reflect properly what individual pupils or a school can do A review of Sats tests in England’s primary schools is calling for changes to English tests to increase creativity – but with more focus on the basics.
The review of the controversial national curriculum tests taken by 11-year-olds, headed by Lord Bew, will be published later on Thursday.
It recommends greater use of “teacher assessment” in English composition rather than the current written test.
Last year 4,000 schools boycotted Sats, saying they narrowed pupils’ education.
Teachers and head teachers in two unions had been calling for the tests – in English and maths – to be scrapped.
The coalition government promised to reform a “flawed” testing system, subsequently commissioning this review.
Lord Bew, a cross-bench peer and Professor of Politics at Queen’s University, Belfast, was asked to look at how best to ensure schools were held accountable for the achievement and progress of every child.
He was also asked how to avoid “the risk of perverse incentives”, such as the drilling of children for testing at the expense of a rounded education.
The BBC understands Lord Bew is to call for “more trust” to be placed in teachers and changes to the system, creating a “fair balance between teacher assessment and tests”.
He is also expected to say more data should be published to give a rounded picture of a school’s performance, including new measures focusing on the progress of lower-attaining pupils.
In detail, he is expected to say the current writing composition test should be replaced by teacher assessment (when a teacher grades a child’s work generally rather their performance on a particular test).
This is aimed at allowing children to be more creative and at discouraging “teaching to the test”.
Critics, including many authors, had complained that the English Sats tests were killing children’s natural creativity.
A group of authors, including Michael Rosen and Roger McGough, issued a statement in support of the boycott last year, saying reading for pleasure was “being squeezed by the relentless pressure of testing” and that Sats were creating an “atmosphere of anxiety” around reading.
Authors had said Sats were creating an atmosphere of anxiety around reading Lord Bew believes tests in reading and speaking and listening should remain, although the reading test should be “refined”.
And there should be a distinct writing test which covers spelling, grammar, punctuation and vocabulary, the review recommends.
The inquiry panel, which includes several head teachers, believes this will raise achievement in these areas.
At the moment, national curriculum tests, or Sats, are taken by children in English and maths.
In addition, schools are required to make statutory teacher assessments in English, maths and science, which are published alongside the test results.
A sample of schools (5%) also sits a science test, which is marked externally.
The published Sats results are used by media organisations to create league tables of schools’ performances and it is this which many school heads and teachers are opposed to.
They say the test results are unreliable and not a true reflection of what a school or individual pupils can do.
To give a clearer picture of school achievement, Lord Bew will recommend that a “three-year rolling average” of performance be published.
Sats tests only exist in England. They were abolished in Wales and Northern Ireland and were never used in Scotland.
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