Schools will not be able to apply for special considerations for pupils whose key stage 2 Sats have been disrupted by Covid, except in the case of a bereavement.

Covid-related special considerations will only apply when a pupil has suffered a bereavement owing to the virus within 12 months of taking the test.

The omission of Covid-related illness or absence from special considerations was revealed today by the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) in an update to its special considerations guidance for key stage 2.

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Under the current guidance, the STA says headteachers should ensure pupils only take the tests if they are in a “fit physical and mental state”, are “working at the standard of the tests” and “have completed the full KS2 programme of study”.

Special considerations apply for pupils taking the test who have been affected by “extremely distressing circumstances” on the week of the test, or the weeks immediately before.

If an application for special considerations is approved, changes will be made to the “school’s performance measures” and not the pupil’s individual records. 

If a pupil is “not in a fit state” to take the test, schools can apply for a timetable variation.

And if a pupil has a “sudden” or “temporary illness”, the guidance states that schools could consider “allowing a rest break or administering the test later the same day”.

The guidance also says that special considerations will not apply for applications considering “difficulties during the school year that may have affected preparations for the tests, such as...periods of home learning related to Covid”.

Ofsted to use this year’s GCSE and Sats results

Last month, the DfE revealed that Ofsted would use this year’s GCSE exam results and Sats data to judge schools’ curriculum delivery. 

But a Teacher Tapp poll suggested three-quarters of primary heads and teachers said they did not have the time this year to “cover the curriculum in sufficient depth”.

In the poll, carried out on behalf of campaign group More than a Score (MTAS) and shared with Tes, only 8 per cent of respondents thought that preparing for Sats this year was helpful to pupils’ learning.