Few topics in education ignite such ferocious debate as exams. And so it proved when Daisy Christodoulou - educationalist, author and research and development director at Ark - wrote a piece for TES arguing that exams are forcing the profession to teach to the test (19 December).

On Twitter, where opinion was divided, some called for an overhaul of the system. @MikeHaines20 proclaimed: “The idea that improvements in test scores equate with increased achievement is often untrue. I think everybody in education knows this except ministers (and exam boards!).”

@digitaldaisies backed him, saying: “Maybe you could have more meaningful assessment, something like - well, coursework?”

Others, however, thought that tweaking how and when exams were set would have more favourable outcomes. @lennyvalentino said: “If the teaching should be more open then so should exam questions.” @JulesDaulby added: “I think taking out high stakes until 1618 would be a start - will be teaching to test from age 4 now.”

But perhaps the most controversial comment came from ed-tech advocate @crispinweston. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with teaching to the test if it’s a good test (too many aren’t),” he said. Richard Vaughan

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