Pupils are NOT tested too much, says Ofsted

THE new head of Ofsted has clashed with parents and teaching unions by claiming it’s a ‘myth’ that pupils are over-tested.

Amanda Spielman said pupils are tested no more than their counterparts around the world.

Mrs Spielman, chief inspector of schools in England, said: ‘I think there’s a bit of a myth around that we have a massively overtested set of students.’

The new head of the education watchdog pointed to research into international testing comparisons carried out by the exam board, Cambridge Assessment.

Mrs Spielman told the Times Educational Supplement that this seemed ‘to conclude that, actually, it adds up to much the same amount of testing as in most other systems’.

She added, however: ‘Clearly there’s been an enormous amount of change, and there

‘Tough time for schools’

have been some kinds of teething problems, and there’s the whole new GCSES and new A-levels.

‘It’s a tough time for schools and colleges, with so much change going, and that’s something that, clearly, in inspections we’ve got to be aware of.’

Yesterday her comments provoked an angry reaction. Rosamund McNeil, of the NUT, said: ‘Teachers are deeply worried about schools becoming exam factories.

‘Government has created a system where teachers must teach children how to prepare to pass tests, rather than how to learn, and often this reduces children’s motivation to learn, and their self-esteem.’

Margaret Morrissey, of the family pressure group, Parents Outloud, said: ‘I do feel we have got to a point where teaching at the moment is no longer as important as testing, testing, testing.’