Obscurity skills

SIR – May I recommend Ofqual for the 2017 “Golden Bull” award for murdering the English language?

Its response to teachers’ claims that the Sats reading test was “too middleclass” (and therefore drove pupils “to tears”) was: “On the balance of evidence presented, it seems plausible that the combined impact from multiple ostensibly negligible challenges – stemming from both question and text factors – may have rendered the 2016 reading test unduly hard to access for at least some pupils.”

Perhaps Ofqual’s response should be included in future exams, with instructions to explain what it means – or would that be too difficult? John Sutherland

Uxbridge, Middlesex