24th July 2019 9:00
By Blue Tutors
Two thirds of 11 year olds have achieved the required standard in reading, writing and maths in the Sats tests taken earlier this term. Reported on the BBC, the tests have become more rigorous but still saw the number of students reaching the pass mark in the three subjects combined increase from 64% to 65% in the last year.
For the subjects individually, maths increased from 75% to 79%, reading decreased from 75% to 73% and grammar and writing remained unchanged at 78%. Nick Gibb, the minister for School Standards said that the results show the majority of students are leaving primary school with the required skills to deal with secondary education.
Opponents to the format of Sats tests reiterated their concerns about the way the results are reported. Although intended to provide an indication of the performance of a school, the results are given for each individual student and it’s claimed that this creates unnecessary stress at an early age. Moreover, many students are beginning secondary school knowing that they are considered to be below the standard expected.
It is argued that preparation for Sats neglects other parts of the curriculum because many schools don’t have the resources to perform well in the tests without over-focussing on them. Many students have skills which are not highlighted by the tests so the results are an unbalanced view anyway. In addition, Sats are only a snapshot of students’ ability at that stage and do not show how well the school has progressed their students.
The National Association of Head Teachers believes that there should be less testing in primary schools, and Jeremy Corbyn announced in April that if Labour came to power then they would discontinue formal tests before secondary school.