Testing in Schools

What is Testing in Schools?

School pupils in the UK are subjected to extensive testing throughout their school careers under the terms of the National Curriculum.

Introduced under the Education Reform Act 1988, the National Curriculum was aimed at ensuring that all pupils were following a sufficiently broad and balanced educational programme, and that attainment was carefully monitored in order to ensure improvements.

Under the National Curriculum, pupils undergo four sets of national tests, corresponding to attainment targets under four "Key Stages". Testing against Key Stage 1 targets takes place at age 7; testing against KS2 targets take place at 11; testing against KS3 targets takes place at age 14; and testing against KS4 targets, that is, GCSE or equivalent external examinations, takes place at age 16, the end of compulsory secondary education. Originally known as "SATs" (Standard Assessment Tasks), since 1991 the tests have been formally called "National Curriculum Tests".

A series of "Levels" of attainment are set out within each Key Stage. KS1 comprises testing at Levels 1 to 3 in English and Mathematics. KS2 comprises English, Mathematics and Science testing at Levels 3 to 5 (the three "core subjects" under the National Curriculum). KS3 comprises English testing at Levels 4 to 7, Mathematics testing at Levels 3 to 8 and Science testing at Levels 3 to 7. Pupils' attainment is rated at a particular Level for each test depending on their mark score, and around 600,000 children in each age range are assessed each year.

Schools' results for KS2 and KS4 tests are published each year, in the form of school "league tables", which rank school performance locally and nationally.

The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) is responsible for the regulation of qualifications, examinations and assessments in England and vocational qualifications in Northern Ireland.

Background

Testing in schools has a long history, but is was in the late 1980s that testing as a means of improving attainment moved to the centre stage of educational policy, hand-in-hand with the rise of school inspections. The two remain to this day at the centre of government attempts to ensure consistency and high standards in educational provision.

The National Curriculum and its testing regimes were thoroughly revised in 1995 and 2000, but across this period multiple and cumulative changes were introduced.

When Labour came to power in 1997, the Government adopted the accountability and testing regime put in place by the Conservatives, and indeed went further with it, introducing additional requirements alongside, and in some instances at the expense of, the National Curriculum - such as the "Literacy Hour" of the National Literacy Strategy, and the National Numeracy Strategy - although these have since been incorporated into the National Curriculum proper.

Moreover, the Government set a target for 2002 of 80 per cent of 11-year-olds achieving Level 4 or above in the KS2 tests, a step which would result in the then Education Secretary Estelle Morris resigning due to the target's not being met.

Further changes were introduced to the curriculum for Year 7 and above in September 2008, designed, according to the Government, to make education "more robust and relevant to the world we live in". Qualifications for 14-19 year olds were to be gradually streamlined via three main - but flexible - routes:

At age 14, pupils would be able to choose a Diploma, GCSEs, or a young apprenticeship. Support for those not ready to select a major qualification at 14 was to be given through the new Foundation Learning Tier. At age 16, in school or college or with an independent learning provider, they would be able to take a Diploma, or A Levels, or an apprenticeship. A further option at 16 was to be in work, with time set aside for training.

Shortly after coming to power in May 2010 the new Coalition government outlined plans for a comprehensive re-assessment of the whole school system.

One of the first changes was to allow pupils at state schools to study for iGCSE qualifications - something which had been available in the independent sector for some time. Also the development of new Diplomas in science, humanities and languages, due to be introduced in September 2011, was halted

In addition, the Education Secretary, Michael Gove, announced in January 2011 that there would be a "major review" of the National Curriculum in England, the intention being to replace the current "substandard" curriculum with one based on the best school systems in the world.

Controversies

Much of the controversy that surrounded the introduction of the National Curriculum related to the rigour and the validity of the testing regime. While few now argue against a National Curriculum as such, testing remains a central dispute in education.

The National Curriculum was introduced in response to concerns that LEA control of the curriculum and the low expectations of teachers were resulting in declining educational standards.

It is beyond question that, against the indicators measured, the whole apparatus of educational monitoring - which includes the National Curriculum, testing, the work of Ofsted and other interventions - has caused performance to improve since the late 1980s. Whether the indicators the regime employs are correct or meaningful is, however, disputed.

Opponents of the testing regime argue that there is too much testing in schools: with external tests required at 7, 11, 14 and 16, much of schooling becomes an exercise in preparing for tests, rather than the wider educational experience they contend it should be.

Indeed, it has been shown in multiple surveys that preparation for the end of Key Stage tests - and other Government initiatives such as the Literacy Hour - have eaten into the time available for the National Curriculum "foundation" subjects (history, geography, technology, languages, art, music and physical education). As such, opponents allege that the National Curriculum itself has had the perverse effect of narrowing the curriculum.

Educationalists have expressed concern about the standards set in the tests, which they claim are not based on empirical evidence about children's attainment levels, but on assumptions about what children should be able to do at certain ages. Some educational psychologists and teachers also claim that the pressure put on children by parents in relation to the tests is damaging to their welfare. In particular, many argue that 7 year olds are too young for formal testing.

Nonetheless, the political significance of testing in schools frequently relates less to the children themselves than to schools and teachers. The school league tables which test results are used to compile are deeply unpopular in many quarters. League tables were intended to show parents how schools are performing: it was assumed that parental pressure on poorly performing schools would push standards up.

While league tables are popular with many parents, and "parent power" has indeed had some of the desired effects, pressure also comes from those parents who are able to, pushing to get their children into "good" schools. Those parents are usually middle class, and the result can be that poorly performing schools are "ghettoised" and pushed into spirals of decline as they are left with the most challenging pupils and the stigma of "failure" - something which successive Governments have actually been accused of encouraging.

The league tables have been revised in recent years, to include "value-added" indicators, taking account of prevailing local socio-economic circumstances, but the methodology is fairly new and results are inconclusive. Educational egalitarians, however, oppose league tables in principle, as improperly promoting the idea that schools are in competition with one another. The Scottish Executive announced in late 2003 that it would abolish league tables altogether, promising parents a more "meaningful" barometer of performance.

Tests are also deeply unpopular with many teachers. 2003 saw efforts by the NUT union to boycott 2004's tests outright almost come to fruition - a ballot saw 86 per cent of members in favour, but the action did not go ahead due to legal technicalities. On top of the reasons outlined above, many teachers object strongly to the additional workload that the testing regime imposes upon them, the prescriptive nature of preparations and the standards measured, and the disruption to the educational programme that carrying them out entails.

Controversy has also surrounded the allocation of grades, with several schools over recent years claiming that incorrect grades have been awarded to their pupils. In 2008 the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority was said to have received complaints about grades from nine schools and colleges, including Eton - the Head Master of the latter reported to have described exam league tables as "a circus of misinformation" based on inaccurate marking.

In addition, 2008 saw ETS Europe, one of the organisations responsible for marking exam papers, lose its contract after failing to deliver the results of Key Stages 2 and 3 national curriculum tests on time. ETS agreed to repay £24.1m to the QCA and an inquiry was established into the delayed Sats results.

In April 2008, Schools Secretary Ed Balls announced the appointment of Kathleen Tattersall OBE as the first chair of Ofqual, (Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation). Ofqual became the independent regulator of qualifications, examinations and assessments on 1 April 2010.

The Schools White Paper - 'The Importance of Teaching' - published in November 2010 confirmed that the new Coalition government would legislate to change Ofqual's objectives so that in future, international comparisons with the most rigorous exam systems in the world would play a key role in the development of exams in this country. This would ensure that exam standards here would keep pace with overseas competitors.

In addition ministers stressed that Ofqual's role as an economic regulator was equally important, stating that: "the need for regulated qualifications and assessment to be of an appropriate standard and for qualifications to be value for money is of paramount importance".

Statistics

The AQA (Assessment and Qualifications Alliance) is the largest A-level and GCSE awarding body in the UK, awarding 45% of full course GCSEs and 44% of A-levels nationally.
This summer about 1.5 million candidates sat our A-level and GCSE exams. We processed around 10.5 million marks in total, from about 3.5 million pieces of coursework and around 6.5 million completed exam papers.

Source: AQA - 2010

Quotes

"After years of political control over our exams system, schools must be given greater freedom to offer the qualifications employers and universities demand, and that properly prepare pupils for life, work and further study.
"For too long, children in state-maintained schools have been unfairly denied the right to study for qualifications like the iGCSE, which has only served to widen the already vast divide between state and independent schools in this country."

Schools Minister Nick Gibb - June 2010

"We have sunk in international league tables and the National Curriculum is substandard. Meanwhile the pace of economic and technological change is accelerating and our children are being left behind. The previous curriculum failed to prepare us for the future. We must change course."

Education Secretary Michael Gove - January 2011