1st August 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
The government has announced plans to introduce new tests which will be taken by 5 and 11 year olds. The plans have emerged as a result of consultation which was designed to ascertain how successful schools are at implementing the new curriculum for primary schools. Under the proposed changes, 85% of pupils will have to reach a “good level of attainment” by 2016 in the new key stage 2 tests, in order for schools to be deemed successful at implementing the new curriculum. The changes were announced by Nick Clegg, who said that the tests would be more rigorous than previous assessments given at this level in the past.
The National Union of Teachers has warned that the new exams taken by 5 year olds may lead to pupils being labelled as failures before they have got a start at their education. In order for schools to reach the proposed target of 85%, the performance of primary school students would have to improve by 25% between now and 2016, a target which the NUT says is unrealistic. They note that if the government demands a large improvement in results in a short space of time, schools will be put under pressure to teach to the tests and ‘drill’ students, rather than providing them with a valuable education. The teaching union has also pointed out that 20% of students have special needs which are not catered for under the new targets set by the government.
Nick Clegg has defended the plans, and denied that the government is trying to turn primary schools into “exam sausage factories”. He told the BBC that “baseline” tests were required at primary schools to ensure that schools are doing their jobs properly. In order to assess schools, tests need to administered at the start and end of school in order to show the level of improvement students are making. He also said that the tougher tests would better prepare students for secondary school. In further changes, tests at primary level will now be marked by external examiners.