The colleges minister has mentioned he’ll look into issues that final week’s SATs exams have been too troublesome after claims {that a} paper left some Year 6 pupils in “tears”.
Nick Gibb mentioned he doesn’t need the exams, that are taken by 10 and 11-year-olds in England, to be “too hard” as that’s “not the purpose” of the evaluation.
It comes after a flood of complaints from mother and father and lecturers about final week’s studying examination, with a union saying even workers struggled “to understand the questions”.
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When requested about issues over the problem of exams, Mr Gibb mentioned he had not seen the paper but however would have a look at it when it turns into out there subsequent week.
He added: “The Standards and Testing Agency have tested this test before in tests before the pandemic, they tested it last year with a large group of children, they monitored the response of those children to the test, to the questions, they found that 85% enjoy taking the test.
“But we are going to have a look at this. I’ll actually have a look at this as a result of I do know that there was issues expressed by some colleges.”
SATs, or Standard Assessment Tests, are used to measure youngsters’s English and maths abilities in Year 2 and Year 6 and include six 45-minute papers.
The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has expressed issues over final week’s studying paper and mentioned it plans to lift the problem with exams regulator Ofqual and the Standards and Testing Agency.
Sarah Hannafin, the union’s head of coverage, mentioned members had reported that the problem of the studying paper “was beyond previous tests”, left youngsters upset, and a few workers struggled to know the questions.
Kerry Forrester, a headteacher at a Cheshire major college, expressed concern concerning the “negative impact” of the SATs exams on the “mental health” of her pupils and he or she mentioned some have been lowered to tears.
Last Friday, the Department for Education defended the exams, saying they’re “designed to be challenging” to measure attainment throughout the power vary.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Mr Gibb mentioned the exams do have to check “a range of ability” to point out what quantity of youngsters are exceeding the usual.
“But we don’t want these tests to be too hard for children. That’s not the purpose,” he added.
Geoff Barton, common secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), welcomed the minister’s dedication to take a look at unions’ issues.
He added: “We’ve received a lot of feedback that this paper was unnecessarily difficult and that it left children distressed and teachers very anxious about the impact on their pupils.
“Key Stage 2 exams usually are not speculated to be some form of gruelling ceremony of passage, however an accountability measure to verify on attainment on the finish of Key Stage 2.”
Content Source: information.sky.com