Dame Christine Gilbert to lead review into Sats failings

Dame Christine Gilbert will lead a Department for Education review into Sats failings after results were delayed by more than one week, Tes understands.

The key stage 2 Sats results, now coming out today, were delayed due to “technical issues”, as revealed by Tes.

The review will examine the precise nature of the issues that led to the delay, as well as their origin. It will conclude in the autumn.

The review will also look at the role that Pearson, the exam board contracted to run Sats; the Standards and Testing Agency (STA); the DfE; and Ofqual had in the process.

And it will evaluate what changes can be made to improve the delivery and operation of tests going forward to avoid further disruption to schools and pupils.

Review of ‘what went wrong’ with Sats

Dame Christine said: “It is vital that parents, children, and schools can have full confidence in the arrangements for key stage 2 assessments. This review will take a thorough and independent look at what went wrong this year, identify the lessons that must be learned and make recommendations to ensure the system is reliable, effective and trusted in the future.”

The Year 6 assessments took place in the week from Monday 11 May to Thursday 14 May, and results were due to be released to primary schools last week, but this was postponed until today.

This is the first year that Pearson has run KS2 Sats, after beating Capita to a four-year contract in April 2024. The contract is with the STA.

A Pearson spokesperson said, when the delay was revealed, that it was the result of “technical issues with the new Sats platform Pearson uses to support markers, along with technical issues in the transfer of data within the systems Pearson uses for Sats”.

The delay follows a series of problems with this year’s Sats. These included difficulties on the first day of the tests, when schools reported struggling to access the National Curriculum Assessments (NCA) Portal.

The DfE has previously told Tes that Pearson first alerted the government that it was experiencing some issues with systems at the end of May.

Dame Christine is an experienced figure in education, is the current chair of Ofsted and is a former chief inspector.

After leading Ofsted from 2006 to 2011, she became chair of Camden Learning, is a visiting professor at UCL Institute of Education, and has been chairing the Education Endowment Foundation since 2024.