Swinney tells schools to continue with tests

Instruction comes after Holyrood votes to end controversial P1 assessments

voted to scrap these tests and SNP ministers must not now ignore the will of Parliament. The government must therefore bring forward immediate plans for how it will respond to this evening’s vote as a matter of urgency.”

While the vote is not binding, it is difficult for ministers to ignore the expressed will of the parliament.

Teachers raised concerns about the amount of time and resources being consumed by the P1 tests when the focus should be on play-based learning, although others in the profession have supported them.

There have also been reports that the tests cause anxiety for young children.

The Scottish Conservative motion, which was supported by Holyrood, called on the SNP administration to “halt the tests in P1 and to reconsider the evidence and the whole approach to evaluating the progress of P1 pupils”.

During the debate, Mr Swinney said: “Assessment is an essential part of a good education system. It is an integral part of effective teaching and learning.”

He stressed there was “nothing new” about testing youngsters.

Mr Swinney said: “The vast majority – 29 out of 32 local authorities – were using some form of standardised assessment before the national scheme was introduced and, crucially, the majority were not just assessing P1 children, they were assessing P1 children twice during the year.”

Liz Smith, for the Scottish Conservatives, said the SNP administration must act on parliament’s decisive vote. “The Nationalists have ignored the evidence on this for quite some time, but they can’t afford to any longer,” the Perthshire MSP said.