In the school where I used to work, the maths department used key stage 2 results, National Foundation for Educational Research test results (given to all Year 7s), and a maths test given by the department to pitch the work at the appropriate level for each pupil. I was not surprised to find that there was a close correlation between the NFER and the internal test results, or that the Sats results bore no relationship to either, or to what students could actually do. Thereafter, I ignored the Sats results.
The problem is not new, but the latest fiasco should surely mark the end of the tests and schools’ co-operation with them.
Jane Eades, London.
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