Sats row as four-in-10 children 'fail' tests

Exam results released next week are set to show that almost 40 per cent of 11-year-olds failed to hit national targets in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of primary education.

It comes despite the fact that children can get good marks with less than half of the correct answers.

But the publication will reignite the row over controversial Sats tests amid claims from teachers that they fail to accurately reflect pupils’ abilities.

This year, a quarter of English primary schools boycotted the exams in an unprecedented wave of industrial action.

Teachers at more than 4,000 schools refused to administer tests in the three-Rs amid claims they narrow the curriculum and force teachers to “drill” pupils to pass. It is also feared that the high-stakes exams jeopardise head teachers’ jobs.

Last night, the National Union of Teachers claimed that the protest would render this year’s national results “an irrelevance” and called on the Government to scrap the tests altogether.

Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, has committed to a review of Sats, admitting “flaws with the current testing system”, but he has pledged to press ahead with the publication of next week’s results and a further round of tests in 2010.

The latest figures are expected to show that just over 60 per cent of 11-year-olds reached Level 4 – the standard expected for their age – in reading, writing and mathematics combined.

Some one-in-seven of the estimated 450,000 pupils sitting the tests this year are expected to have gained the higher Level 5 in the three papers. A separate science test was scrapped last year.

Data published by the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency, which administers Sats, shows that pupils could gain a Level 4 in reading with between 18 and 30 out of 50, while the writing pass mark was between 25 and 36 out of 50. Pupils had to gain at least 46 per cent in maths to pass.

However, it is believed that this year’s results could be skewed by the mass boycott of Sats, which affected 4,005 out of 15,515 state primary schools.

Christine Blower, general secretary of the NUT, which led the action alongside the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “By uniting, the actions of over 4,000 schools will be sufficient to render this year's league tables an irrelevance.

"These discredited tests must end. We hope that the Government's forthcoming review of testing will therefore provide a valuable forum for debate, rather than being constrained.

“It must be fully independent and comprehensive in its remit.”

But a spokesman for the Department for Education said: “We are confident that the number of pupils who took the tests this year is more than enough to ensure that the national results are comparable with previous years.”

Unions have called for Sats to be replaced by a less formal system of “teacher assessment”, in which staff analyse pupils’ performance in the classroom and assign marks.

For the first time this year, teacher assessment scores will be published alongside official Sats results for 11-year-olds – Key Stage 2.

Assessment grades in English, maths and science for 14-year-olds will also be published, although Labour scrapped formal Sats tests for this age group two years ago.

Mr Gove has insisted the Government will press ahead with primary school tests next year, despite veiled threats of further industrial action.

“While we work with others to improve and strengthen the tests, it is crucial that there is no gap in information provided to parents, pupils and teachers next year,” he said.
--By Graeme Paton, 30 Jul 2010