Focusing on the number of schools which had appealed ignores the fact that, in most cases, the number of pupils involved was very tiny. The number whose levels were changed was even smaller.

A more accurate guide to the reliability of the tests is the review request data, published by Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in January as part of our annual reports on test standards.

The number of pupils involved in review requests was jst over 1 per cent of the cohort, and of these, just over half (0.62 per cent of the cohort) resulted in a level change.

The QCA’s evaluation after the tests showed that three-quarters of teachers thought that the marking of KS2 tests was “good” or “very good”.

However, as part of our quality control process, we did find it necessary to dismiss 31 English markers - around 1.5 per cent of the total. All of the scripts marked by those dismissed were re-marked.

Dr Nicholas Tate

Chief Executive

Qualifications amp; Curriculum Authority

Bolton Street

London