'˜Unnecessary pressure' on pupils as 40% fail their SATs

Official figures released by the Department for Education yesterday showed that four out of 10 pupils failed to meet the threshold, despite a marked improvement on last year’s results. This year’s cohort was the second to sit new tougher tests in line with a new national curriculum introduced in 2014.

According to the national data, 61 per cent of pupils met the required target, compared with 53 per cent last year, which has been attributed to teachers’ increasing familiarity with the new assessments. However, union leaders say the exams “are not fit for purpose”, and Yorkshire headteacher Jo Fiddes, who spoke out against SATs in May, described the tests as an “unnecessary pressure” on young children.

Mrs Fiddes, from Five Lanes Primary School, Leeds, said: “The end of the SATs process means that all children aged 11 will be given a score. Some children will have worked hard and have a positive result, others will have worked equally hard but will face disappointment. Being judged in this way will have no bearing on their future learning, but may impact negatively on their sense of self-worth.

“The nature of these tests and the weight put upon them by the school inspection regime has 
resulted in the narrowing of the school curriculum. This is inevitable when this methodology underpins the measurement of school performance. A score is not a true reflection of a child’s worth.”

There was significant improvement in reading standards, with 71 per cent of pupils reaching the expected standard compared with 66 per cent last year. Three quarters of children met the 
expected standard in maths, compared with 70 per cent last year. There was also an rise in results for the grammar punctuation and spelling tests, up from 73 per cent last year to 77 per cent, and 76 per cent of pupils met the expected standard in writing this summer, compared with 74 per cent last year.

But the tests remain controversial, with teachers, unions and parents, who are concerned about the pressure on young children and the resulting impact on their mental health, as well as the consequences for schools judged by the results. Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), said: “The results reflect that children and education professionals have worked extremely hard to get to grips with these new-look SATs. But SATs continue to have a negative impact on children’s education and the exams are not fit for purpose.”

Russell Hobby, the General Secretary of National Association of Head Teachers, said: “They are at best a tiny snapshot of a very specific area of a child’s development.”

Yesterday’s results give only the national picture, with school-level results to be published later in the year. But North Yorkshire County Council said early indications showed a “significant and rapid improvement”, with the number of pupils achieving the national standard increasing by seven per cent.

School Standards Minister Nick Gibb said the SATs results showed “sustained progress” in reading, writing and maths and represented a “testament to the hard work of teachers and pupils across England”.