National tests for England’s infant pupils ‘could return’
BBC News | Education & Family | 26 June 2015
Ministers are planning to revive national tests for seven-year-olds in England, according to the Times Educational Supplement.
Currently, Year 2 pupils sit tests in reading, writing, maths and science which are marked by teachers and moderated by local councils.
The results of any new tests would be used to hold schools to account on pupils’ progress, the TES says.
Teaching unions have already threatened to boycott any new national tests.
Schools Minister Nick Gibb is reported to be considering the proposals as his department gets to grips with how pupil progress is to be measured and recorded now the system of National Curriculum levels has been scrapped.
This was the system of checking pupils’ year-by-year progress against a set of national expectations.
‘Step too far’
Pupils are expected to reach two levels of progress between the end of infant school – or Key Stage 1 (KS1) – and the end of primary school, or Key Stage 2 (KS2). Schools are held to account on this through the league tables.
