Second primary school run by academy chain has SATs results annulled

Just one fifth of parents were able to answer SATs-style questions aimed at 11-year-olds
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Anna Davis @_annadavis19 September 2018

Pupils at an “outstanding” primary have had their SATs results annulled after doubts were raised over the integrity of the results.

The Standards and Testing Agency cancelled some of the results of former year six pupils at Harris Primary Academy Kent House over fears of “maladministration”.

The Harris Federation, which runs the school in Penge, has launched an investigation.

The federation, which has 47 schools in and around the capital, is also carrying out an investigation into a second primary school — Harris Academy Philip Lane, in Tottenham. The STA found that teachers there had “overaided” pupils in the tests, and several papers were annulled.

The results of SATs, taken at the end of primary school, are used by secondary schools teachers to work out what standard their new pupils are at, and to plan any extra help accordingly.

A spokeswoman for the department for education said pupils would not be adversely affected by the decision to cancel their SATs results because the schools would provide teaching assessments to show their progress.

A spokeswoman for the Harris Federation said: “The Standards and Testing Agency cancelled some of the results for a proportion of the former Year 6 cohort of Harris Primary Academy Kent House.

“The academy wrote to parents to apologise. We are determined to understand what may have occurred and have begun a formal investigation. No stone will be left unturned by our investigation and we will not hesitate to take the toughest possible action wherever this is appropriate.”

The STA advised the school on how to “avoid future maladministration”.

A department for education spokeswoman said: “Teachers and parents must have confidence in the integrity of the assessment system, which is why we take allegations such as this very seriously.”

Last month the STA concluded that year six pupils at Harris Academy Philip Lane were given too much help in their English reading and maths reasoning SATs papers. Their scores in those papers were cancelled and they only received scores for their grammar, punctuation and spelling tests.

The school, formerly known as Downhills primary school, was taken over by the Harris Federation in 2012 despite a major campaign by parents to keep it under local authority control.

The Harris Federation has been widely praised by ministers for its schools’ results.

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