Schools minister to look at Sats test after 'distressed' children were reduced to 'tears'

The schools minister said he would look into the exam after concerns were raised, ITV News' Sejal Karia reports

A Sats test which left children "in tears" will be looked at by the government after floods of angry parents and teachers complained it was "unnecessarily difficult".

The Schools Minister Nick Gibb said he does not want the exams, which are taken by 10 and 11-year-olds in England, to be “too hard” as that is “not the purpose” of the assessment.

Last week hundreds of parents and teachers took to social media, concerned about the welfare of their children and pupils.

Kerry Forrester, a head teacher from Cheshire, said "tears flowed from our most capable readers and stress levels rose amongst all others", when the youngsters "opened their reading test".

Parents slammed the reading exam as "too difficult" and a headteachers’ union said some staff also struggled “to understand the questions”.

When asked about parents’ concerns, Mr Gibb admitted he had not seen the paper but said he would "certainly look at it".

He also added the questions had been tested on a large group of children before the pandemic and said "85% enjoyed taking the test".

Addressing the fresh concerns Mr Gibb told journalists on Monday: “We have psychometricians and practising teachers who put a lot of effort and time into making sure these tests are right for children.

“They do have to test a range of ability to make sure that we can show what proportion of children are exceeding the standard and so on.

“But we don’t want these tests to be too hard for children. That’s not the purpose."

Schools minister Nick Gibb said he would look at last week's tricky Sats test. Credit: PA

Sats, or Standard Assessment Tests, are used to measure children’s English and maths skills in Year 2 and Year 6, and consist of six 45-minute papers.

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) plans to raise its concerns over last weeks test with exams regulator Ofqual and the Standards and Testing Agency.

Sarah Hannafin, the union’s head of policy, said members had reported the difficulty of the reading paper “was beyond previous tests” and left children upset.

Example of a Year 2 maths SATs question.

James Bowen, assistant general secretary at the NAHT, said: “We are pleased that the Government will be looking at what happened with the reading test this year.

“It is essential that test papers are accessible for the large majority of pupils. We need to remember that these are 10 and 11-year-olds and the last thing we need are papers that leave them feeling demotivated and dejected.”

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “We’ve received a lot of feedback that this paper was unnecessarily difficult and that it left children distressed and teachers very anxious about the impact on their pupils.”

He added: “Key Stage 2 tests are not supposed to be some sort of gruelling rite of passage, but an accountability measure to check on attainment at the end of Key Stage 2.”

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