Schools start to prepare children for SATs ‘as young as three’, report claims

A survey of almost 300 primary headteachers condemns the negative impact of SATs across all school years.

Preparation for SATs is having a direct impact on younger children and across all year groups, not just Year 6, the survey of almost 300 primary headteachers reveals.

Dr Alice Bradbury, UCL Institute of Education, surveyed 288 primary school headteachers between March and June, and conducted 20 in-depth interviews for the campaign group More Than A Score.

The report Pressure, anxiety and collateral damage: the headteachers’ verdict on SATs reveals a range of concerns.

One head commented that ‘preparation starts as soon as the three-year-olds step through the door’, while another said, ‘We’re really aware now that the work starts right from the moment they enter the school in Nursery.’

The curriculum is narrowed not only in year 6 (an overwhelming 90 per cent agree) but also in other year groups (52 per cent agree).

The curriculum is ‘strait-jacketed by the need to prepare the children for the tests’, one head said.

The head of one school remarked on shifting the focus in the early years to English and maths, reporting, ‘You’re trying to get away from a focus on the kind of wider EYFS profile and focusing on English and maths, which is the core of any primary curriculum.’

Dr Bradbury concludes, ‘For many headteachers, SATs are an indication of a system which has the wrong priorities, with negative effects on children, teachers and the curriculum and pedagogy”.

Setting

Some schools also report children being put into streams ‘from Reception onwards’.

The report said, ‘In some cases, the whole school curriculum and organisation was geared towards preparing children for SATs, so that the impact was felt throughout the school, as in the case of the school with streaming from Reception’.

The high-stakes nature of SATs — whereby a school is judged on the basis of tests taken by 10- and 11-year-olds — is at the heart of much of the criticism.

Heads reported that the curriculum was directed towards SATs because they were considered so important for Ofsted, the school’s reputation and league tables.

Research findings

• 90 per cent of heads questioned agree that the curriculum is narrowed in year 6 because of SATs.

• More than half believe it's narrowed in other years too (with some saying preparation begins 'in Nursery')

• 91 per cent disagree with the changes made to SATs in 2016.

• To prepare for SATs, more than a third are setting children in English and almost half are doing so in maths.

• Almost three-quarters admitted to 'teaching to the test' in preparation for SATs

• 99 per cent believe SATs put pressure on teachers. Many commented on the rise of the specialist 'Year 6 teacher'

• 83 per cent believe SATs have a negative effect on pupils' well-being.


By the time pupils reach year 6, the effect on the curriculum is pronounced.

Almost three-quarters of heads (74 per cent) admitted to ‘teaching to the test’ with one head commenting, ‘For those children in year 6 […] it’s intense, it’s grotty. It’s just reading, writing, maths, pretty much and I wouldn’t choose that for any child, particularly if they’re not very good at reading and writing and maths. It’s fairly horrendous for them to have to do that all day, every day […] In an ideal world I would not want to ever put a child through this.’


Sara Tomlinson, a spokesperson for campaign group, More Than A Score, said, ‘The stakes around primary assessment are so high that the negative effects are inevitable. It’s wrong to test 10- and 11-year-olds under exam conditions and it’s unjust to use those results to measure a school’s performance as a whole. It’s time for the Government to listen to those who know children and schools best and put an end to this broken system.’

A Department for Education spokesperson said, ‘SATs should not be stressful for pupils – and there is absolutely no need for teachers to be preparing young children for them. All over the world, schools guide children through assessments without them feeling pressured. This is how it should be. 

‘Ofsted’s new inspection framework focuses on ensuring schools are offering a broad, balanced and sequenced curriculum so that pupils build their knowledge and skills over time rather than through excessive exam preparation.’