Headteachers union hits out at SATs tests data
The vast majority of headteachers say this year’s Standard Assessment Tests (SATs) will be “useless”.
A survey of 2,000 school leaders by the NAHT union found only eight per cent felt the results would provide meaningful data about their school’s performance and only one per cent believe felt Key Stage 1 SATs should go ahead as planned this year, and only three per cent felt KS2 SATs should go ahead.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT, said: “Primary schools have experienced severe disruption due to Covid this year – just as much as in 2020 and 2021 – and that disruption has not been felt evenly – some schools have been harder hit by staff and pupil absences than others, meaning children have had very different experiences of teaching and learning.
“SATs are really used to assess schools more than pupils – but the data from this year’s tests will be largely useless when it comes to judging a school’s performance. "If the government is determined that SATs must go ahead, the data should only be used at a national or local level, and not to draw conclusions about the performance of individual schools.”
He added: “The Government needs to do a lot more to convince schools that SATs should go ahead as planned and to rebuild the trust of the profession.
”Although the Government has told us that SATs data will be treated with caution by inspectors, local authorities and regional schools commissioners, our members tell us that they simply do not trust that this will really be the case.”