Pupils 'must take exams aged seven' says Ofsted head Sir Michael Wilshaw

 
Sir Michael Wilshaw at a school in Bow this week
Sir Michael Wilshaw, the Head of OFSTED, talks to students as he visits the St Paul's Way Trust School in Bow east London, before the release of the OFSTED 2013 report. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Monday December 9, 2013. Photo credit should re
11 December 2013

Primary school children must be made to sit formal exams at seven to stop Britain being beaten in the global education race, the head of Ofsted said today.

Sir Michael Wilshaw called for a return to external testing at the end of infant school amid concerns that teachers are not judging pupils’ performance fairly. He also urged the Government to bring back Sats for 14 year olds which were scrapped five years ago amid claims that constant testing was causing anxiety for children.

He said it was a “mistake” that formal testing was scaled back, saying: “In getting rid of the tests we conceded too much ground to vested interests.” In a thinly-veiled attack on teaching unions, the Chief Inspector of Schools added: “Our education system should be run for the benefit of children and no one else.”

Sir Michael Wilshaw at a school in Bow this week
Sir Michael Wilshaw, the Head of OFSTED, talks to students as he visits the St Paul's Way Trust School in Bow east London, before the release of the OFSTED 2013 report. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Monday December 9, 2013. Photo credit should re

Formal tests for seven year olds were phased out from 2004 and now teachers make their own assessments of pupils’ abilities in English and maths.

But Sir Michael said the results of assessments are too varied and he wants seven year olds to take externally marked tests under exam conditions in the same way that 11 year olds do.

He said they should also be made to take tests again at 14. These tests were scrapped after a marking fiasco caused results to be delayed in 2008. He said: “Talk to any good headteacher and they will tell you it was a mistake to abolish those tests. That’s because good teachers use those tests to make sure every child learns well.”

Sir Michael believes it is vital that children’s progress is “benchmarked” at regular intervals, adding: “If we are serious about raising standards and catching up with the best in the world, we need to know how pupils are doing at seven, 11, 14 and 16.”

The move is likely to anger teaching unions and education campaigners who believe young children are already tested too much.

Michael Gove introduced a phonics test for six year olds last year, and a new spelling, punctuation and grammar test for 11 year olds this year on top of reading and maths tests.

Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham said: “We don’t want to turn our schools into test taking factories. The tests are a good servant but a very poor master. We need to be wary of too much testing for statistical convenience.”

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, said: “These proposals are wholly inappropriate. The only point of reintroducing externally marked Sats would be to enable a further extension of the current punitive, high stakes model of school accountability.”

In his annual report Sir Michael points out that overall school standards have improved, with eight out of 10 schools in England now judged to be good or outstanding. But he raises concerns that poor white children have progressed more slowly than all other ethnic groups since 2007. He said white boys and girls from low-income families have the lowest attainment.

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