Primary SATs too stressful for pupils: MPs

EXAMS for young children should not have such ‘ high stakes’ because they damage teacher and pupil wellbeing, MPs say.

Primary school SATs may be putting too much pressure on pupils and causing them ‘unnecessary stress’, according to the Commons’ education select committee.

The current system also leads to schools ‘teaching to the test’ and neglecting the rest of the curriculum, the MPs said.

Under reforms pioneered by former education secretary Michael Gove, exams have become more rigorous in an effort to raise standards in numeracy and literacy.

The Tory policy was introduced after international studies showed youngsters in the UK falling behind peers in many other countries.

But following a campaign by teaching unions, current Education Secretary Justine Greening has pledged to scrap SATs for seven-year-olds.

Now the committee believes she should go further to make the remaining primary school tests – for pupils aged four and 11 – less intensive.

Instead of schools being judged each year on the results, the MPs’ report, published today, says minis- ters should instead look at a ‘rolling three year average’.

This could mean that one year of poor results would not trigger an intervention, as long as the following two years produced better ones.

Conservative MP Neil Carmichael, the committee chairman, said: ‘Many of the negative effects of assessment in primary schools are caused by the use of results in the accountability system.

‘The resulting high- stakes system has led to a narrowing of the curriculum with a focus on English and maths at the expense of other subjects like science, humanities and the arts. It is right that schools are held to account for their performance but the Government should act to lower the stakes and help teachers to deliver a broad, balanced, and fulfilling curriculum for primary school children.’

Last year, some parents kept their seven-year-olds off school during the Year 2 SATs as part of a campaign called ‘Let Our Kids Be Kids’.

A spokesman for the Department for Education said: ‘We will consider the recommendations of this report carefully and respond in due course.’