Ministers under fire as ‘banned’ school tests hit a record high across Scotland
SNP MINISTERS have been accused of rank hypocrisy after the number of tests given to P1 pupils hit a new record five years after Holyrood voted to ban them.
Official figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats show more than 90,000 standardised tests were given to four and fiveyear-olds in 2022/23.
The rise in the use of the tests is despite MSPs voting 63-61 to halt them in 2018, only for SNP ministers to ignore the will of Parliament.
Teachers had warned the tests were of little worth and parents complained of children in tears, but SNP ministers said they were a key tool to gather information on pupil literacy and numeracy. Labour, the Tories, LibDems and Greens united in a vote to ban the tests, but it was not binding on the Scottish Government.
Since the vote, more than 190,000 P1 pupils have undergone almost 375,000 tests.
LibDem MSP Willie Rennie called the tests “Thatcherite”, and accused the SNP of double standards, as it has repeatedly demanded the UK Government respect the will of Holyrood on other issues.
He said it was ironic that Scottish ministers had released the data just days before leading a debate on the protection of Holyrood’s powers.
Mr Rennie said: “SNP ministers are hypocrites.
“When they think there is some political capital to be gained from whingeing about UK Government overreach they are happy to call for parliamentary debates on protecting the powers of the Scottish Parliament. But when the Scottish Parliament gives them a direct order they don’t like, they tell it to get stuffed.”
It emerged 18 months ago that the Scottish Government expected to spend £17 million on delivering standardised national tests over the subsequent five years.
Mr Rennie added: “Scottish Liberal Democrats and education campaigners won a hard-fought parliamentary victory to call for the scrapping of Thatcherite standardised testing of P1 pupils.
“Teachers have been quite clear that these tests are too stressful for four- and five-yearolds and tell them nothing that they do not know already.
“The Scottish Government are always complaining they don’t have enough money.
“Well, here is an easy decision: do what Parliament asked, tear up the multi-millionpound contract for conducting these tests and spend the money elsewhere.”
The Scottish Government said an independent review of the tests in 2019 found “scant evidence” of them upsetting children and recommended they continue.
A spokesperson said: “There is no evidence of the assessments having a negative impact on the health and wellbeing of children and young people.
“The assessment approach in Scotland places teacher professional judgment at the heart of the process. Our survey of staff using the assessments in 2021/22 showed that the majority found the assessments helpful in informing future teaching and learning.”