Educational Assessment System Reform

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Wednesday 15th October 2025 Westminster Hall

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Ind)]

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Lewell. I congratulate the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Josh Dean) on securing today’s debate.

The assessment system is so broken that it is breaking our young people. It shows that those who can pass exams do well and those who cannot do not do so well. It assesses what people cannot recall or pull together as opposed to emphasising their strengths and building on their knowledge base, skills and talents. I have long researched this issue and believe it is time for the Government to be bold and welcome this review. The level of mental health issues, stress, trauma and anxiety among our young people is unsustainable. We have to change course. That is why I support the recommendation to scrap the SATs assessments, which place such pressure on our young people.

There are other forms of assessment that can continue to map a child’s journey. Assessment should be a continual process for educators, to stretch their pupils and ensure that students can move on to the next stage of their learning. That is what we should do: enable teachers to use their professional skills to maximise a child’s learning journey, stretch their creativity and give them a hunger to explore curiosity and critical thinking—the skills that are so needed in our economy today and which employers often say are so lacking among new starters.

Every child learns differently so the way they are assessed should reflect that diversity so that the fullness of their learning journey can be reflected in the assessments. I hope that we adopt a much more comprehensive form of assessment, in which we look at the diversity of how children express themselves. That should also be ongoing: people who can cram for exams have an advantage over those who process information and apply skills in very different ways. I say again in this Chamber that I recommend listening to the work of Sir Ken Robinson, which highlights how the education and assessment system must change.

Scrap the SATs. We do not need them in our education system. It is not right that young children should be so stressed. I have a challenge for the Government around GCSEs, given that children do not leave school any more. We need to think about how we prepare our young people for the next stages of life, showing that they have proficiency in their learning and encouraging children to stay with and enjoy their learning. If we are to prepare people for the rest of their lives, when they will not continue to sit exams, let us think about portfolios of assignments—learning journals and project work that reflects the reality of the society that we live in. Let us enable people to have those portfolios that they can use as evidence. That would involve the skills needed and mean we could assess better through a modulated system.

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[Steve Witherden (Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell.

Before being elected, I spent nearly two decades as a teacher. I know all too well the realities of working in a system that prioritises teaching to the test at the expense of a creative curriculum, broader educational experiences and, most importantly, pupil wellbeing.

As chair of the all-party parliamentary group for education, I recently led an inquiry into the loss of love of learning. It found that current assessment practices have a significant impact on students’ engagement with, and attitudes towards, learning. One submission highlighted that a system which frames learning through a lens of student deficit rather than progress ultimately ends up demotivating learners and narrowing their sense of possibility. When education is reduced to a means of securing exam results, we lose the intrinsic joy and value of learning itself.

One of the most powerful moments during the inquiry came when a group of primary school children from Wales visited Parliament to give evidence. They were genuinely surprised and, frankly, horrified to learn about the pressure and stress their peers in England face when preparing for SATs—and they were right to be shocked. In England, SATs preparation dominates much of the year 6 curriculum, leaving little room for creativity, exploration or deeper understanding.

Research from More Than a Score found that over three quarters of parents believe that SATs have a detrimental impact on their child’s mental health. More than a third reported that their children were not sleeping properly in the run-up to the exams. Of course, that pressure does not end in primary school. GCSEs and A-levels occupy multiple years of a young person’s life and subject them to immense stress.

According to YoungMinds, pupils sitting their exams last summer reported elevated levels of anxiety, self-harm and even suicidal thoughts. Current systems also disproportionately disadvantage pupils with special educational needs and disabilities—or additional learning needs, as they are known in Wales—as well as those experiencing mental health issues or growing up in a socioeconomically disadvantaged circumstance.

[Rachael Maskell]

I am grateful for what the hon. Member is saying. As well as widening inequality through the current assessment system, which we know occurs, does he not agree that it also stifles social mobility, holding many young people back from the opportunities they could have?

[Steve Witherden]

Yes, I agree 100%.

In 2025, more than 75% of pupils with SEND and over 90% of those with an education, health and care plan did not meet expected standards in their end-of-primary SATs. Many carry that label of failure into secondary school before they have even had the chance to flourish. As someone who is dyslexic, dyscalculic and was functionally illiterate until the age of 11, I know what it feels like to struggle within a system not designed for people like me.

Teachers in schools serving deprived communities consistently report higher levels of pupil anxiety and disengagement related to SATs, compared with their counterparts in more affluent areas. The current high-stakes, one-size-fits-all model is not only outdated; it actively perpetuates inequality. Like Wales, England should abolish SATs. They damage children’s mental health, impose unnecessary stress at a formative age and fail to serve as reliable indicators of pupil or school performance.

At GCSE and A-level, we must reduce our dependence on high-stakes, end-of-course exams or on-demand online assessments, which give pupils—particularly those who struggle under timed conditions—greater opportunity to succeed. For far too long, education policy has been shaped by an obsession with measurable outcomes, too often at the expense of the very learners who most need our support.

I look forward to the final report of the curriculum and assessment review and urge the Government to respond with both ambition and compassion. Let us move beyond high-stakes learning, reduce anxiety in our classrooms, and above all, restore joy, creativity and a love of learning.

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[Georgia Gould]

One of the really damning statistics is how many young people are not in education, employment or training at the end of the education system. We cannot afford to leave any child behind. Every child needs the best start and to achieve at school. That is what this Government are focused on.

[Rachael Maskell]

Will the Minister look at how young people can develop a portfolio around their learning as you would with professional development as an adult and in employment, so that they can map that journey and use it as part of the assessment portfolio that they could gather as they move through their education?

[Georgia Gould]

The Government are absolutely committed to high standards in English and math and the core learning that young people have, but we also want to see young people have a broad experience at school. I have heard the passion of so many hon. Members talking about the arts. I am a former leader of Camden council, where we heavily invested in the arts to make sure that every pupil had access to learning an instrument and the power that brings. We heard about the collaboration and the joy that the arts bring, and the need to ensure that they are taught well and to a high standard. So, I am absolutely committed to that breadth of education and to making sure that that goes through the education system.

Before I talk about assessment, which is the main topic of discussion today, I want to stress that I hear the depth of concern about young people’s mental health—not just from Members here today, but from the young people that I speak to, who talk about the anxiety and stress of being a teenager and the pressures of the huge amount of information that they are getting, and say that we need to address that as a Government.

It is troubling to see any young person struggle with their wellbeing. It can impact every aspect of a young person’s life, from their relationships and confidence to their ability to learn and thrive in school, as we have heard today. Too many young people have struggled to access the support they need and therefore ended up with the kind of deep anxiety and unacceptable mental health concerns that we have heard about when they face challenges, such as when exams are coming up. We need to make sure that we have the right mental health support for young people when they face challenges.

We want to make sure that help is there early by providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school and expanding mental health support teams. We estimate that 60% of pupils in schools and further education will be covered by a mental health support team by April 2026—up from 52% in April 2025. Our goal is for all pupils to have access to mental health support in school by 2029-30. To support education staff, my Department provides a range of guidance and practical resources on promoting and supporting pupils’ mental health and wellbeing. Across the system, we are recruiting 8,500 new mental health support staff to support both children and adults. We also recognise how important it is to listen to young people to understand their experiences and make sure that the support that we offer truly meets their needs.

Turning to assessment, it is important to state that well-designed assessments play a critical role in supporting young people to develop and demonstrate their achievement at school. As the curriculum and assessment review interim report states:

“Effective assessment is a crucial component of a high performing education system.”

Members will appreciate that I cannot pre-empt the conclusions and final recommendations of the review while it is still in progress. The review’s final report is due to be published in the coming weeks, at which point the Government will respond on the issues of assessment and accountability that Members have raised.

I want to address some of the concerns that have been raised this afternoon and give reassurance that many of these issues are being looked at carefully in the review. Starting with concerns about primary assessments, including SATs, these assessments help to make sure that pupils are building the core knowledge and skills they need to succeed as they transition to secondary school and throughout their lives. SATs are carefully developed to ensure that they are accessible, but I recognise that the experience can feel stressful for some young people, as we have heard today.

Schools should not be overpreparing children for these assessments and we must be mindful of the pressure that they can have on children. They should not lead to the kinds of stories that we heard today of children feeling that they had to give up different activities because of the stress and pressure they were feeling. It is incumbent on schools to ensure that young people have the skills and knowledge that they need, but also to continue to provide breadth. Members will know that the changes to Ofsted’s accountability make it clear that we want to see a wider focus on inclusion as well as a focus on attainment.