National standardised assessments in Scotland have been “accessible and stimulating”, according to an analysis of feedback published by the Scottish government today.

Today’s report, published after the recent controversy over the impact of Scottish National Standardised Assessments (SNSAs) on the country’s youngest pupils, also suggests that teachers were “very pleased” with the information the assessments provided - although Scotland’s biggest teaching union, the EIS, has reacted sceptically to that finding.

Education secretary John Swinney has also announced changes to the SNSAs for 2018-19, their second year.

The P1 SNSAs have been the most contentious - assessments are also run at P4, P7 and S3 - and some questions have been changed “to ensure a more familiar context for P1 pupils while retaining the same level of difficulty”.

Last year, the question in the multiple-choice assessments for P1s which attracted the most criticism involved finding a synonym for a hummingbird’s beak.

Meanwhile, a P1 “practitioner forum of teachers and professional groups” is being set up to “look at all aspects of the P1 assessments to provide the best possible experience for children” - a move that follows the launch of a national campaign to help parents withdraw their children from the P1 tests.

The government also announced changes applying to all assessment stages, including:

• Children will be asked to rate their experience at the end of each assessment
• Teachers will be able to provide feedback at any time and there will be an annual, random survey of teachers
• Training will include case studies, video hints and tips to “help teachers with successful classroom management”
• The public website for parents and staff will be updated
• A third of questions have been updated.

Mr Swinney, who has also today published an open letter to parents of P1 children as well as feedback from teachers, said: “Standardised assessments provide consistent evidence for teachers to identify the next steps in a child’s learning, which is especially valuable in the early years if we are to continue to close the attainment gap.”

Last week, the Scottish government came under fire for writing a “draconian” letter to directors of education, telling them families did not have the right to opt children out of new national tests. Details of the letter came to light the day after the government published a parental involvement strategy designed to help families feel more involved in their children’s education.

Mr Swinney said: “I have listened to the range of feedback and changes this year should further improve the experience for learners and provide extra reassurance to teachers and parents.

“While P1 questions were deemed to be at an appropriate level of difficulty, many will be refreshed so that they provide a more familiar context for children. Training and advice for teachers will be improved and children undertaking the assessments will be asked for feedback. Communication with parents is vital and the website information has been updated.”

Mr Swinney said the assessments should be “part of everyday learning and teaching”, adding: “These are not ‘high-stakes’ assessments - there is no pass or fail and there is no time limit.”

He also said that the average time taken to complete a P1 assessment is less than an hour (previously he has said in Parliament that they should take no longer than 40 minutes) and that this “is a very short amount of time to give teachers information to help plan a child’s progress to the next steps in learning”.

Reacting to today’s government publications, EIS education convener Susan Quinn said the union “retains serious concerns over the educational value” of the assessments, which echo concerns about similar testing regimes around the world.

“Our members in schools have expressed a wide range of concerns over SNSAs, ranging from the way in which they have been designed to the impact on the children who are being required to undertake these assessments,” she said. “Many teachers, particularly those in the early stage of primary schools, have reported serious concerns over the stress that is being placed on young children who are undertaking SNSAs. The review recommendations published today seem to be doing little to address these concerns.”

Ms Quinn added: “It is surprising to note from the Scottish government statement today that children have apparently found the assessments ‘accessible and stimulating’ and that teachers were ‘very pleased’ with the information provided by SNSAs. These findings run contrary to the vast majority of experiences reported by teachers across Scotland in the recent EIS survey, the findings of which were shared with the Scottish government.

“The EIS will be interested to see the evidence base for the Scottish government’s interpretation of SNSA feedback from pupils and teachers.”

Ms Quinn also said: “Recommendations that young pupils can ‘rate their experience’ of assessments, that there will be a random survey of schools and that experienced teachers, already well qualified in how best to assess pupil progress, will receive ‘video hints and tips on successful classroom management’ will do little to allay the very serious concerns held by many teachers over the value of SNSAs and their impact on pupils in our schools.”