NAHT calls for solutions to ‘chaotic’ primary testing regime

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has called for ’swift and lasting’ solutions to the current testing regime in primary schools.

98 per cent of primary leaders who responded to NAHT’s Assessment Pledge believe the current system is ‘chaotic and distracting’.

The union has warned that ‘serious mistakes’ have been made in relation to the planning and implementation of testing this academic year, which the NAHT says has had a negative effect on children’s education.

Russell Hobby, general secretary of NAHT, is calling for a ‘better system of assessment - one that works for parents, pupils and teachers, rather than one that just ticks boxes for bureaucrats and politicians’.

The key mistakes identified include: late publication and frequent changes in the middle of the year; inappropriate content; lack of clarity on standards and contradictory guidelines; a focus on tick-box skills rather than the quality of work; lack of time to implement the new curriculum; and serious errors on the design of a reception baseline, leading to its cancellation.

The NAHT has also drawn focus to the Key Stage 1 spelling, punctuation and grammar test, which is was leaked online months before the exam was due to take place.

Hobby said: “Testing has a role to play in the assessment of children, but the poorly designed tests and last minute changes we have seen this year do not add value to teaching. Increasingly, parents and teachers agree that high-stakes statutory tests like SATs can actually make it harder to find out what children are really learning and to improve their education.

He added: “We want to find a clearer, simpler system that gives parents and schools the information they need to improve children’s learning. We cannot endure a repeat of this chaos. The government must step back from its piecemeal, last minute changes and engage with the profession now – well in advance of next year – in a fundamental review of assessment from reception to key stage three. There is much that we can achieve if we work together.”