Schools opt to replace test too far for reception children
The majority of primary schools across England have opted to assess children as young as four using a method that focuses on observation as opposed to testing.
Headteachers and local authorities flocked to adopt the test-free approach offered by Early Excellence, a small consultancy in Huddersfield, which emerged as the surprise winner of the competition to supply the Department for Education’s (DfE) controversial new baseline assessment.
It means that children entering reception class in September 2015 are likely to be assessed using the new system, recording each child’s literacy and numeracy skills within a few weeks of their starting school.
The baseline assessment had been bitterly opposed by some teaching unions as a “test too far”, with the National Union of Teachers and the National Association of Head Teachers calling for them not to go ahead.
Early Excellence’s director Liz Marsden said she was delighted by the outcome, which has seen the company with fewer than 50 full-time employees sign up more than 11,000 of England’s 16,700 primary schools, in the teeth of opposition from larger and better known rivals, including Hodder Education, owned by French publishing giant Hachette.
