More than a quarter of schools that signed up for the Reception baseline pilot did not complete the assessment for all pupils, a new report has revealed.
The research, published today by the Department for Education (DfE), also shows that the number of schools withdrawing from the pilot was more than double the number previously thought.
Of the 9,657 schools that had signed up to the Reception baseline assessment (RBA) pilot by early April last year, just 7,046 (73 per cent) had completed assessments by 25 October 2019 for all their pupils registered on the system.
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And 415 schools had withdrawn from the RBA by the same date, according to the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) report.
Tes previously revealed that 178 schools had withdrawn from the pilot before it began at the start of this academic year.
The new data shows that this number more than doubled over the course of the first half term - with an additional 237 schools opting out of the pilot.
Additional figures show that, of the total participants, 9,128 schools logged into the assessment system, and 8,994 got as far as uploading pupil data - but didn’t complete all the tests.
The report also reveals that the DfE is planning to scrap two of the assessment tasks - a literacy, communication and language (LCL) task relating to early reading, and a maths task relating to shape.
The STA said the early reading task was completed by “very few pupils...due to routing” and was answered correctly by “even fewer pupils”.
It added that, while the shape task “functioned appropriately and was answered correctly by many pupils”, it was removed to “balance the assessment between the two components” and “better reflect the early years foundation stage, from which shape is being removed”.
“These changes will have the effect of reducing the time required to complete the assessment without compromising the quality of the assessment,” the report explained.
Excluding the figures relating to participation, the findings are based on a representative sample of the total number of schools that uploaded pupil data during the pilot.
This resulted in a sample of 4,046 schools being drawn for the analysis.
Eighty-four per cent of practitioners rated children’s interest and enjoyment of the tasks as at least “satisfactory”, while 89 per cent said the same for pupils’ understanding.
Girls “significantly outperformed” boys on the overall assessment as well as on the individual components.
The report also includes findings from an earlier trial of the test, including the fact that only 65 per cent of practitioners considered the LCL tasks to be “satisfactory” or above, compared to 82 per cent who judged the maths tasks to meet or exceed the same threshold.
Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, said: “The DfE’s report demonstrates only that baseline assessment meets the requirements set out for it by the DfE, which is no real statement at all.
“The Department for Education is keen to give the impression that the introduction of a statutory baseline will signal the end of an era in which testing throttled the primary sector. This is disingenuous.
“The opposition parties agree that the whole primary assessment system is ‘toxic’ but we see no evidence that the government is even remotely on the same page.”
The DfE has been approached for comment.
Earlier today, school standards minister Nick Gibb said: “It’s hugely important that we understand how much progress primary schools help their pupils make.
“This new teacher-led check will replace the Sats taken at the end of Year 2 to give a better understanding of a child’s starting point when they arrive at school and reduce the number of assessments in primary schools overall.”
