Calls to suspend standard testing in Scottish schools

EDUCATION Secretary John Swinney is being urged to suspend standard testing in Scotland’s schools.

Labour said the tests, which youngsters take in P1, P4, P7 and S3, are an attempt by the Scottish Government at “fabricating its own credibility” on educational attainment.

Education spokesman Iain Gray urged ministers to halt the use of tests following feedback from teachers earlier this month that P1 pupils had been left shaking, crying and dist ressed by the “unnecessary and cruel” assessments.

That is part of a fivepoint plan Labour has produced, which it says would“reboot standards in Scottish schools”.

The Educational Institute of Scotland teaching union has already submitted more than 170 pages of comments from its members to ministers on the testing regime, describing the contents as “grim reading”.

The tests were introduced by the SNP in a bid to close the attainment gap in schools.