Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the results of the poll undertaken by Parentkind, published in March; in particular, what assessment they have made of the findings that (1) 86 per cent of parents do not consider SAT results as important when choosing a school for their child, with 70 per cent not looking into a prospective school’s SAT results at all, (2) 95 per cent of parents reported that SATs had a negative impact on their children’s wellbeing, and (3) 89 per cent of parents would support SATs being replaced by an alternative measure, such as ongoing teacher assessment, checked by external monitors.

Key stage 2 (KS2) assessments are important as they enable parents and schools to understand pupil achievements in relation to age-related attainment expectations outlined in the national curriculum and help teachers identify pupils who need the most support.

Furthermore, school performance measures from these assessments play an important role in supporting schools to improve, as well as helping parents when choosing schools for their child. The department remains committed to having a broad range of school performance measures at KS2.

Research conducted by University College London Institute of Education found that there was ‘little evidence to changes in [pupil] wellbeing around the time of key stage 2 tests, or that children in England become happier – either in general or about school – once these tests are over’. Nevertheless, although schools should encourage pupils to work hard and achieve well, we do not recommend that they devote excessive preparation time to assessment, and certainly not at the expense of pupils’ mental health and wellbeing. We trust schools to administer assessments in the appropriate way.

Formative teacher assessment informs teaching and has a crucial role in supporting pupils to progress and achieve their full potential. In certain instances, such as English writing, it is used currently as part of school accountability measures. The introduction of teacher assessment for all primary assessment would, however, likely introduce an additional burden for schools that would not be conducive to the department’s aim of reducing teacher workload. Also of relevance are the views of Ofqual, the regulator for qualifications, examinations and assessments in England, on teacher assessment and moderation in primary assessment. They state that although ‘teacher assessment can be a highly valid and effective approach to assessment, where it informs school accountability measures this can place pressure both on the assessment and also on the teachers being asked to make the judgements’.

The department currently has no plans to replace KS2 assessments with an alternative measure.