- Only 2% of secondary teachers have no criticisms of SATs
- Only 8% think the data is an accurate basis for grouping by ability
- 69% say the results are an inaccurate way to predict GCSE grades
- Only one in four believe the information is important for year 7 teachers
Secondary school teachers have delivered a damning verdict on the information generated by the SATs tests taken at the end of primary by their new year 7 pupils.
They criticise the data from the government tests as “unreliable”, “not useful” and “inaccurate” in new research conducted by Teacher Tapp for campaign group More Than A Score. Only 8% think SATs results are an accurate basis for putting pupils into ability sets and only 2% of those surveyed say they have no criticisms of the current system.
The findings come ahead of the Department for Education’s review into curriculum and assessment, which will include year 6 SATs and other statutory primary tests championed and expanded by the previous government.
Year 6 SATs scores are used to set controversial Progress 8 targets which are designed to measure secondary school performance but over two-thirds (69%) of secondary teachers describe the data as an “unreliable way to predict GCSE grades”.
When it comes to using the data to support teaching, only 3% of teachers say SATs results are a reliable way to assess pupils’ attitudes to learning and only one in four believe the data is important information for year 7 teachers to know. Almost half of those surveyed (44%) say their school re-tests year 7 pupils because the data is unreliable, often using CAT tests from an external supplier.
SATs data is also not useful for the children who most need learning support – only 33% of secondary teachers think they are useful to identify those who need extra help, including those with SEND or other difficulties.
Teachers working in areas with areas with the highest levels of social deprivation are particularly untrustworthy of the data. Almost half (49%) say the data is unreliable for most pupils and specifically children with SEND, versus 40% overall.
The survey also provides an insight into the cause of this level of mistrust in so-called ‘official’ data. Almost two-thirds of teachers (64%) believe the high stakes nature of the tests is to blame. As SATs results are used to measure overall school performance, secondary teachers understand the inevitable consequences including teaching to the test, cramming and a narrowed curriculum.
Alison Ali, spokesperson for More Than A Score, comments, “Like their primary school colleagues, secondary teachers are asking: what is the point of SATs? A data-gathering exercise which produces unreliable, untrusted information is a waste of everyone’s time. We’re looking forward to sharing our research with the government’s curriculum and assessment review. It’s time to listen to those who know children best.”