Do not compare Sats results with previous years, says Nicky Morgan

Key stage 2 test results, which will be published on Tuesday, should not be compared with previous years, the education secretary Nicky Morgan has said
4th July 2016, 7:51pm

Share

Do not compare Sats results with previous years, says Nicky Morgan

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/do-not-compare-sats-results-previous-years-says-nicky-morgan
Thumbnail

Ms Morgan ushered in new, tougher Sats exams this year, which led to some pupils being reduced to tears and sparked a significant backlash from teachers and parents over the difficulty of the tests.

Headteachers have already called for the test results not to be published amid fears that they will provide a skewed impression of primary school performance.

And in an attempt to manage expectations, Ms Morgan told the BBC that Tuesday’s Sats results should not be looked at against previous years.

“They simply cannot be compared directly,” she said.

Individual schools will receive their tests results tomorrow, while the provisional national results will also be made public.

But Ms Morgan said that critics of the new primary curriculum will try to claim that lower results will mean the new system has failed.

“Nothing could be further from the truth. I don’t know what the results will look like yet. But I have always been clear that politicians trumpeting ever-rising test results, at the expense of high standards is entirely wrong,” she said.

The Cabinet member said lower results would not mean children had “performed any worse”, but rather that the bar had been raised.      

“Neither schools nor parents should try to compare this year’s results with previous years,” she said. “The tests are new and are based on a new, more rigorous national curriculum - based on the best evidence from across the world.”

Want to keep up with the latest education news and opinion? Follow TES on Twitter and like TES on Facebook

Want to keep reading for free?

Register with Tes and you can read two free articles every month plus you'll have access to our range of award-winning newsletters.

Keep reading for just £1 per month

You've reached your limit of free articles this month. Subscribe for £1 per month for three months and get:

  • Unlimited access to all Tes magazine content
  • Exclusive subscriber-only stories
  • Award-winning email newsletters
Recent
Most read
Most shared