ATL comment on Government concessions to assessments at Key Stages 1 and 2

“We are pleased that common sense has prevailed and the Government has made some concessions to the assessments at Key Stages 1 and 2. Teachers will welcome some extra time to assess all the pupils in their class, although only giving them an extra few weeks is not much of a concession when the Government has made so many changes to the curriculum and made the curriculum significantly harder in a short time-frame. 

“The added stresses on teachers from these changes, together with their chaotic implementation, will undoubtedly affect pupils and make it harder for teachers to concentrate on helping children to learn.

“Unhelpfully the Government has still not said what standards it is expecting in Key Stage 2 tests, nor its minimum expectations for a school’s progress scores.

“Government clarification of exactly what teachers will need to do when they assess pupils will be helpful, however, it would have been even more helpful if the Government had made it clear what teachers need to do when it issued the guidance.

“Schools and teachers will also need to be sure that Ofsted’s inspectors will not expect to see thousands of assessments for each class.

“At a time when teachers already have excessive workloads, and there is a recruitment and retention crisis, the Government needs to have a better understanding about the impact of its changes on teachers. The assessment burden on Year 6 teachers is huge and unworkable.

“ATL is still calling for the grades for this year’s SATs to be based on teachers’ professional judgement of their pupils’ achievements. ATL also wants the Government to look again at assessments and their link to school accountability.”