Government scraps Sats tests for 14-year-olds » Local Government » 24dash.com

The Government today scrapped Sats tests for 14-year-olds in the wake of this year's marking fiasco.

Schools Secretary Ed Balls said parents would be kept informed of their child's progress through the use of US-style "school report cards".

Mr Balls set out his plans to "radically reform" the regime in secondary schools in a statement to MPs, but insisted pupils at 11 would continue to sit externally-marked tests.

The move was welcomed by shadow schools secretary Michael Gove, who promised to work with the Government towards a system of "fewer and more rigorous tests".

He said the "fiasco" this year, when thousands of Sats tests were marked late by contractor ETS, should never be repeated.

The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) dissolved its five-year, £156 million contract with ETS Europe by "mutual consent" in August following the shambles.

Mr Balls told the Commons there were three principles behind the testing regime: helping parents to choose schools and monitor their child's progress, enabling teachers to help children progress and allowing the public to hold the Government, local authorities and schools accountable for performance.

Explaining the decision to axe the tests for 14-year-olds from next year, he said: "We do not believe that the three principles I have set out justify the Key Stage 3 testing arrangements in their current form."

Parents could judge the performance of a secondary school by looking at GCSE results, and the Government has already announced measures to "improve real-time reporting of progress" to give parents up-to-date information on their child's education.

He added: "Head teachers have told me repeatedly over the last year that a more flexible system of assessment throughout Key Stage 3 would allow schools to focus more effectively on personalised teaching and learning and use the flexibility of the new secondary education curriculum."

Instead of the tests:

:: Parents will receive regular reports on their child's progress in Years 7, 8 and 9.

:: Key Stage 3 test papers will be provided to schools that want to carry out internal tests.

:: Schools will "properly focus" on children who did not reach the expected standard at Key Stage 2, aged 11, to help them catch up.

:: A sample of pupils will take an externally-marked test to measure national performance.

Outlining the new report cards, Mr Balls said: "It is our intention to introduce a new School Report Card for all primary and secondary schools.

"The School Report Card will help parents to better understand how well schools are raising standards and improving, compared to other schools in their area.

"They will show how each school is supporting the progress of every child and also playing their role in supporting the wider development and wellbeing of children."

Mr Balls said the system would draw on the model used in New York City but tailored to suit schools in this country.

Defending the decision to retain Sats for 11-year-olds, he said: "I am convinced that externally-marked Key Stage 2 National Curriculum tests are essential to give parents, teachers and the public the information they need about the progress of each primary age child and every primary school.

"To abolish those tests, as some argue, would be the wrong thing to do."

Mr Gove said the administration of this year's tests was "as the Secretary of State himself eventually admitted, a fiasco".

He told Mr Balls: "We want to work with you to ensure that we never again put pupils, parents and teachers through the stress and pain of this last year."

Mr Gove welcomed the "clarity" of Mr Balls' analysis of the case for external assessment at the end of Key Stage 2.

He said: "We need proper information on how individual children are making progress and we need accurate information about how individual schools are doing."

But Mr Gove warned that there were still "widespread concerns" that the preparation for National Curriculum testing occupied too much school time.

"There are real worries that a move to single level testing at Key Stage 2 - the so-called stage not age testing - leads to individual schools testing pupils more often and intensively as they try and retry to get individual pupils to the appropriate level so that league table rankings improve.

"Will you ensure in the pilots that you're undertaking that there will not be more tests, more teaching to the test and a narrower learning experience and league tables that distort rather than clarify?"

Mr Gove said he welcomed Mr Balls' announcement that all parents would have information each year on the progress their children aged 11 to 14 were making.

The shadow education secretary enquired whether Ofsted would now be changing its inspection regime.

He also criticised Mr Balls for the "disappointing" take-up of diplomas by schools across the country and asked about the future of A-Levels.

Mr Balls said Mr Gove's remarks were an "odd response" as he did not seem to raise any of the issues in the statement.

"The things that I found very odd about that response was that he didn't tell us whether the Conservative Party supports our decision to abolish Key Stage 3 tests at 14 - yes or no.

"And he didn't tell us whether he supported our decision to introduce report cards - yes or no."

But Mr Balls said he welcomed Mr Gove's support for the continuation of external assessment at Key Stage 2.

Mr Balls said: "I know that the Leader of the Opposition has in past interviews said that the Conservative Party wants to continue with tests at 14.

"I know the (shadow) schools minister last week told the House of Commons debate that the Sats that are most criticised are the Key Stage 3 tests, however, those are probably the most important tests.

"I understand there will be a need for a period of reflection on those issues before deciding the Conservatives' policy.

"But I hope ... they will conclude that the proposals we've made today are in fact the right way to take forward the learning of every child."

Liberal Democrat education spokesman David Laws said he welcomed the Government's "u-turn" on the Key Stage 3 tests.

He also welcomed "what I think is a Conservative u-turn".

Mr Laws said: "Outside this place, by all parties in the education debate, the Key Stage 3 tests have long been regarded as a complete waste of time - expensive, inaccurate and unwanted.

"We're very pleased that they have gone because they're expensive without adding anything to the system."

Mr Laws also welcomed the Government's announcement to keep Key Stage 2 tests as these were "vital" to the accountability of primary schools.

He said: "I hope this is the first of a number of major changes which can restore some kind of credibility to the standards debate in education."