Sats are proof of value for taxpayers’ money, claims exam watchdog

SATS testing in primary schools is necessary to show that taxpayers’ money is being well spent, the head of England’s exam watchdog body has said.

Roger Taylor, the chairman of Ofqual, said the assessments were needed so that the public can be “confident” that the education system is fit for purpose.

“I do not think it is possible to deliver a high-performing primary education system, paid for by taxpayers, where citizens can be confident that the money is being well used to deliver good quality education for all young people, without assessing the performance of those schools and that does mean assessing the abilities of the children,” he told the Times Educational Supplement.

“I can’t see how we would have a high-performing education system and not have some mechanism to do that.”

Children in England take Sats at the end of their final year of primary, while tests for seven-year-olds are being phased out in favour of “baseline assessments” for children at the end of reception year.

Mr Taylor expressed what he stressed were his personal views after Jeremy Corbyn announced that if elected, he would scrap Sats because primary schoolchildren should not have to go through “extreme pressure testing”.

The Labour leader said he would replace Sats with an assessment that would take into account “the learning needs of each child”, after consultation with parents and teachers.

A Labour spokesman said: “It is vital that parents have confidence in our school system, but that is often not the case under the current assessment and accountability system.

“Labour will ensure that the performance of schools and children is assessed in a way that is more reliable, while avoiding teaching to the test and encouraging all schools to deliver a broad and balanced curriculum.”