One school where all exams get black mark

But while teachers turning their back on testing marks a major change in the state sector, for one independent Yorkshire school it has been a way of life for almost 30 years.

The York Steiner School does use formal exams or tests at any stage of their pupils' education from the age of six to 14.

The private school, which has around 200 pupils and is one of 31 Steiner schools across the UK, constantly assesses the progress of its pupils but does not believe "standardised group tests" help.

This approach is one of a series of differences which mark the school out from typical schools in the state or private sector.

From their first year as a six-year-old to when they leave at 14 and 15, each class has the same teacher who takes the majority of their lessons and stays with them from the start to the finish of their education.

The school does not have a headteacher and is run by committee and there is no standard fee for parents who instead have to negotiate a contribution based on what they can afford.

Sue Morvan, the chairman of the York Steiner's management group said: "We don't test because in our method of teaching it's simply not helpful.

"Formal testing is inevitably comparative and since our aim is to work with the needs of the individual in a social context we don't need it."

Because teachers work with the same class of around 20 pupils for eight years, the school believes its staff are able to track the progress of each student and tailor lessons accordingly. Pupils are also asked to review subjects they are learning and highlight areas which they feel they need to focus on.

Steiner School teachers also snub textbooks in favour of entirely narrative lessons.

Teacher Helen Mackfall said: "We do test what the pupils know at the end of each block of lessons but there are no formal tests. Because we are with the same class from the start we know each child's strengths. The advantage of this system is the relationship you are able to develop over time."

Ms Morvan said: "The art of teaching is to encourage and manage what each child presents. Subjects are taught in pretty intensive blocks. For instance I have been teaching geology to our pupils in class six, who are 12, and we have done it in a three-week block.

"The lessons are a combination of what I want to get across and what the pupils want to know so that we meet each child's needs and we ask the children to self-review what they have learnt.

"Our evaluations of children are useful for them whereas the standard assessment tests in state schools are not being done because they are useful to their education. They are being done for a third party: To show how good the teacher is or to measure children's academic progress in a league table."

The school, which occupies the site of a former comprehensive school in Fulford, has 200 pupils from across the region with children travelling from as a far afield as Leeds, Wakefield and North Lincolnshire.

It hopes to expand to 250 pupils over the next four years. Around 80 to 90 per cent of its pupils go onto higher education after completing GCSEs and A-levels in mainstream schools.

Staff put part of this success down to the number of pupils' parents who are devoted to their children's education.

Father-of-three Jeremy Wood, whose children have all been educated at York Steiner School, said: "We decided to send our children here because we did not want them to suffer the same fate as us in that every ounce of creativity was squeezed out of us by a system designed to get children through exams and not to teach how to learn.

"My eldest child has now gone to a state school and was not behind in any subjects and her reports have been extremely positive especially regarding her participation in class discussions and debate."

What is steiner philosophy?

Steiner Schools are an international movement inspired by Austrian academic Dr Rudolf Steiner who opened the first school in Stuttgart, in 1919.

Each school aims to provide children with an "unhurried and creative learning environment" which allows pupils to enjoy childhood.

They are opposed to "academic hot-housing" to pass tests.

York Steiner School began in 1981and is one of only two educating children up to the age of 14 in the North.