More Than A Score’s opposition to the pointless and harmful screen-based testing of four-year-olds is based on professional understanding of this age group. Anyone working with four-year-olds knows that one size most definitely doesn’t fit all. Just 1% of heads and teachers say it is a good experience for children and only 3% of Reception teachers say the test provides accurate information.

Small children develop social and cognitive skills at varying rates, with each day giving a different snapshot of their abilities.

Not only that, standardised tests are significantly more difficult for those with special educational needs, or a summer birthday, or for whom English isn’t their first language. Yet they sit the same tests as everyone else in their class.

This is why education experts agree that Baseline testing simply doesn’t provide any useful information about a child’s ability or potential.

When the test was introduced, the British Educational Research Association described it as “flawed, unjustified and totally unfit for purpose”. In a recent survey (NEU, December 2025) Reception teachers called it “an absolute waste of time” and 88% said it should not continue in any format.

Reception year should be an exciting and reassuring introduction to the joy of learning through play. It should stimulate children’s curiosity and build their self-confidence. It should not include tests that ignore everything four-year-olds can do and turn them into data points.