Primary school leaders’ body the AHDS is calling on the Scottish government to stop making schools test P1 children’s literacy and numeracy through standardised national assessments.

The call follows a member survey, which found most primary school leaders believe the Scottish government’s standardised assessments are useful - but not when it comes to pupils in the first year of primary school.

The survey - which involved almost 1,300 Scottish school leaders - found that while almost 60 per cent agreed that Scottish National Standardised Assessments (SNSAs) were generally useful, that figure dropped to 28.9 per cent when it came to the testing of P1s.

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A key concern among principal teachers, deputes and headteachers was the time that P1 assessments take.

One school leader described P1 SNSAs as “time consuming and onerous”, and added: “This information could be gathered in other ways.”

Another said: “Time taken to undertake SNSAs in P1 outweighs the benefits.”

There were also concerns that the tests were making it “difficult to fully undertake play-based learning” and that the literacy test in particular was not appropriate for P1s.

One respondent called the tests “ridiculous” because of the “amount of text presented to children”. Another also called the P1 tests “ridiculous” and added that almost all of their P1s required support to read a passage about wildcats.

Greg Dempster, general secretary of the AHDS, said: “Over many years, the outputs from our member survey have made plain that P1 SNSAs are seen as onerous to administer with little value for schools.

“This isn’t a case of members being opposed to standardised assessments as the survey response is markedly different for SNSAs at later stages, where members are much more positive.”

Mr Dempster added: “In an empowered system, we would like to see the compulsion to undertake P1 SNSAs removed. Instead, they should be there as a tool for those schools who find them useful, no more than that.”

The SNSAs were run in Scottish schools for the first time in 2017-18. They take place in P1, P4, P7 and S3. The results are not reported but teachers are supposed to use the assessments to inform their judgements about whether or not pupils are hitting the expected level for their age and stage. These figures are reported in December.

The assessments - taken online at a point in the school year determined by schools - have always been controversial and their educational value hotly disputed, particularly around testing of primary pupils as young as four.

P1 assessments

In September 2018, the Scottish Parliament voted 63-61 in favour of halting the P1 assessments, with all opposition parties uniting to defeat the Scottish government.

However, although individual councils have decided not to run the tests in P1 - Fife Council voted to scrap them in 2018 and Glasgow devolves decision making on P1 presentations to headteachers - they have continued in other parts of the country. In 2020-21, 78 per cent of eligible P1s were tested.

In January 2022, Tes Scotland revealed that a new contractor had been brought in to run the tests, with the cost to the taxpayer expected at £17 million over five years.

When the government first went out to tender for a contractor for SNSAs in 2016, it put the cost of the assessments at £10 million over five years.

The current contractor, AlphaPlus, is responsible for delivering both the English-language SNSAs and the Gaelic version of the assessments, Measaidhean Coitcheann Nàiseanta airson Foghlam tron Ghàidhlig (MCNG).

A Scottish government spokesperson said: ”David Reedy’s independent review of Scottish National Standardised Assessments for P1 in 2019 found that they have significant potential and should continue. His recommendations on enhancing assessments and support materials for teachers have since been implemented. 

“The assessment approach in Scotland places teacher professional judgement at the heart of the process. SNSAs are a helpful additional source of information for teachers when considering children’s progress in literacy and numeracy. Our survey of staff using the assessments in 2022-23 showed that the majority found the assessments helpful in informing future teaching and learning.”