More than nine in 10 school leaders believe this year’s Sats results would not provide meaningful data about their school’s performance, a new survey reveals.
The survey, made up of more than 2,000 school leader responses, also revealed that almost all (99 per cent) thought key stage 1 Sats should not go ahead as planned.
And just 3 per cent of leaders thought KS2 Sats should go ahead as planned.
Overall, only 10 per cent thought 2022 Sats data would be a reliable indicator of children’s attainment or progress.
KS1 and KS2 Sats are returning this summer after a two-year hiatus owing to disruption from the pandemic.
Despite comments from schools minister Robin Walker that the assessments should go ahead to assess the impact of the pandemic, the survey - which was carried out by school leaders’ union the NAHT - revealed that only one in 10 leaders (11 per cent) trust that Ofsted will not draw conclusions on reports based on Sats data alone, or that they will not make comparisons with data from previous years.
Mr Walker has told schools that the results of KS2 Sats this year would not be published in league tables, but that they would be “shared securely with primary schools, academy trusts, LAs [local authorities] and Ofsted for school improvement purposes and to help identify schools most in need of support”.
He added that the Department for Education had “always been clear” that bodies using school performance data would need to look at “the wider circumstances” of an individual school, and “conclusions should not be drawn based on a single piece of data alone”.
‘A real danger’
General secretary of the NAHT Paul Whiteman said that primary schools had experienced “severe disruption” this year owing to Covid, “just as much as in 2020 and 2021”.
He added that the disruption had not been felt “evenly”, with some schools and areas affected more than others, meaning pupils will have had “very different experiences of teaching and learning”.
“For that reason, the results of Sats this year really can’t be compared, either with previous years or with other schools.”
Mr Whiteman added there was “a real danger” that the data from SATs this year “could paint a very misleading picture” “and lead to incorrect conclusions being drawn” about an individual school’s performance.
Michael Tidd, primary school headteacher at East Preston Junior School in West Sussex, is happy with the return of Sats this year, but is wary about how the data will be used.
Mr Tidd said Sats should be treated as “an indicator of national outcomes” as well as to show how Covid has had an impact.
However, he added that the problem is how these results are used: “Ofsted will still have them and I think that’s a bit of a worry for people if you get an Ofsted team that are overreliant on the data”.
‘Intense pressure’
Mr Whiteman said that teachers were “constantly assessing” pupils’ progress and “teachers don’t need Sats results” to help this process.
“Sats are not something teachers find valuable for assessment and are simply a distraction during a time when there is still significant disruption in schools.
“If the government is determined that Sats must go ahead, the data should only be used at a national or local level, and not to draw conclusions about the performance of individual schools.”
Mr Whiteman warned that despite assurances from the DfE that Sats data will be treated “with caution” by inspectors, local authorities and regional schools commissioners, leaders “do not trust” that this will truly be the case.
A spokesperson for campaign group More Than A Score (MTAS) said the NAHT’s research aligned “closely” with what the group is hearing from heads, teachers, parents and pupils.
“Bringing back Sats this year serves absolutely no purpose. The results will not provide any useful information about the effects of Covid in schools. They will still be used to measure schools’ performance, despite two years of disruption, putting heads and teachers are under intense pressure.”
MTAS said that 10- and 11-year-old pupils were “racing to complete the curriculum in time”.
“There’s still time for the government to halt this year’s tests and we call on Nadhim Zahawi to look carefully at this new evidence and make the right choice.”
Last October, the NAHT passed a motion calling on the national executive to lobby the DfE to abandon all statutory tests in primaries in 2022. Headteachers also said the “ridiculous” and “pointless” statutory tests in 2022 would be “unfair” due to Covid-19 absences.
