Vast majority of leaders want primary school assessments scrapped or reformed
New research suggests that Key Stage 2 SATs are not serving disadvantaged pupils well, with fewer than a tenth of primary school leaders saying they would keep SATs as they are if given the choice. The new report Primary Is What Comes First, has been produced by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). It draws on new polling of primary senior leaders in England, conducted by YouGov on behalf of IPPR, as well as IPPR’s own in-depth interviews with teachers and school leaders.
The overwhelming majority (93 per cent) of those polled say SATs do not support disadvantaged children well. In IPPR’s interviews, teachers said SATs can fail to capture disadvantaged pupils’ progress or potential. Some test content assumes background knowledge and experiences not all children have had, while the blunt ‘expected standard’ label can leave pupils feeling they have ‘failed’ primary school – even where they have made significant progress. The report also warns the assessments can compound disadvantage by narrowing the curriculum in the run-up to exams, ‘squeezing out’ subjects such as art, music and sport, as well as trips that poorer pupils are less likely to access outside school.
Those polled were also asked about the impact of SATs on staff, with 93 per cent saying that preparation for and administration of SATs increases stress levels for teachers. More than two thirds (71 per cent) say that SATs have a negative impact on day-to-day school life, with just over half (52 per cent) suggesting they play a ‘significant’ role in influencing teachers’ decision to quit the profession. The report suggests these effects are felt most acutely in schools with the least capacity to absorb them, with consequences for the quality of teaching and pastoral support that disadvantaged pupils often depend on more than their peers. The think tank found that just 7 per cent of primary senior leaders believe SATs should be kept in their current form. Around one in eight (12 per cent) say SATs should be replaced, while 39 per cent say they should be reformed, with 40 per cent saying they should be removed and not replaced with any other formal assessment.
However the report itself does not call for SATs to be abolished. Instead, IPPR say the findings should prompt a wider debate about how primary assessment and accountability can be reformed so that it is fairer, broader and better able to support disadvantaged children. The think tank will be publishing a report with recommendations later this year. Ellie Harris, principal research fellow at IPPR and co-author of the report, said: ‘The current system asks schools to do one thing while judging them on another. Primary schools are responsible for children’s learning, wellbeing, personal development and transition to secondary school, but SATs capture only a narrow slice of that work. For disadvantaged pupils, the trade-offs are particularly sharp. When SATs preparation squeezes out art, music, PE or enrichment, the children who lose most are often those who cannot access those opportunities elsewhere.’
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, commented: ‘For too long, primary school children have been let down by a system that narrows the curriculum, worsens student engagement and creates barriers to enrichment opportunities. This is particularly devastating for disadvantaged pupils. The research also highlights the devastating ways SATs-related accountability pressure contributes to teacher stress, affects pedagogy, and contributes to teachers’ decisions to leave the profession’. Unlike the IPPR, he went on to call for an end to SATs: ‘The government must change course. Change is desperately needed to build an assessment system that supports children and their learning, especially disadvantaged pupils. It’s time to scrap SATs and end statutory primary assessment’.