Unions call for review of primary school tests
All six major education unions have called for a review of primary school tests, claiming the current system is failing children.
In a joint statement, the unions claim that the Key Stage Two assessments, taken by children leaving primary school, are too focused on specific subjects and are damaging children’s learning process.
They say that 70 per cent of teaching time for the exams is spent on English and maths – at the expense of other subjects, and that teachers are spending too much time preparing children for the tests rather than encouraging them to learn.
The general secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), Steve Sinnott, said: “We do have to try and find more sophisticated ways in which we assess children.
“We believe that they are available now and we need to try and convince the government to move on this.”
But the government remains unmoved. A spokesperson for the Department of Education and Skills said: “We will not abandon a system which has served our children so well.
“National tests provide an objective means of assessing all pupils on a consistent basis.
“This in turn provides information on standards, improves accountability of schools to parents and to taxpayers, helps inform parents and is useful to the pupils’ next teachers once they reach secondary school.”
The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), the Professional Association of Teachers (PAT) and the Secondary Heads Association (SHA) all joined the NUT in producing the statement.
