'National rankings' for pupils

Primary school pupils could be ranked against their peers across the country, under new plans proposed by the government.

We asked ITV News' Facebook followers what they thought about the plans and here is a selection of the responses:

Watch: Clegg says plans will show child's progress

The Deputy Prime Minister has said that the new baseline assessments will show how far pupils have come since they began primary school and will not compare them to other students.

When asked if the new proposals will add too much pressure and** "setting them up to feel like failures early on in life."**

Nick Clegg said: "I think people are jumping to conclusions...if you want as a school or even as a parent to know how your child has done during their time in primary school... just compared to where they started and where they ended up."

Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) criticised Nick Clegg's calls for an increased 'baseline assessment' at primary school level.

She said: "It is difficult to see how a 25% increase in the primary floor standard between 2010 and 2016 could be realistically achieved without wide-scale teaching to the test and other inappropriate drilling techniques.

"Given that approximately 20% of children have some form of special needs, this new target will doom many of them to 'failure'."

The new plans for primary schools, outlined by Deputy Prime Minister and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, contain measures to scrap national curriculum levels and introduced a new scoring system which is used in international tests.

"I make no apology for having high ambitions for our pupils," he said.

"But for children to achieve their potential we need to raise the bar - in terms of tests, pass marks and minimum standards. I am confident that primary schools and their pupils will meet that challenge."

The Government is also consulting on bringing in a new "baseline assessment" to ensure children are making progress, which could be "a simple check of a child's ability" in their first weeks of compulsory schooling, or maintaining existing teacher-marked tests at age seven.

The current system requires that children reach Level 4 in English and maths at the end of primary school, with primaries expected to ensure that 65% of their pupils achieve this standard. They are also measured on the progress they make between ages seven and 11.

But ministers are proposing that from 2016, schools will need to have at least 85% of their students reaching the new higher standard.

Primary school pupils could be ranked against their peers across the country under new plans being considered by ministers.

The Government has put forward proposals for new measures which would see youngsters put into 10% bands or deciles, based on their achievements.

Parents would be told their child's position, for example that they are in the top 10% in the country in a particular subject.

The move is one of a package of measures set out by ministers which they say will help to raise the bar on achievement in primaries and ensure that youngsters are ready for secondary school.