Sats leak inquiry uncovers ‘substantial issues’ at Standards and Testing Agency

Investigation reveals low morale among staff at testing body and says they are ‘under enormous pressure to deliver a perfect process’
9th November 2016, 10:55am

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Sats leak inquiry uncovers ‘substantial issues’ at Standards and Testing Agency

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A damning report today criticises the “defensive and silo” culture at the Standards and Testing Agency, following two high-profile leaks of Sats papers earlier this year.

The independent report, published this morning by the Department for Education, criticises the agency for a “lack of end-to-end strategy, data and oversight; a defensive and silo culture; a shortage of commercial skills; and an ineffective assurance process and culture”.

These “substantial issues” pose a risk to the STA’s ability to deliver tests, the report says.

The review of the STA, which is responsible for running the Sats tests taken by seven and 11-year-olds, was ordered by school standards minister Nick Gibb after two security breaches in 2015-16.

In December 2015, the modified version of the key stage 1 spelling guidance was published online containing live test words - which led to the test being scrapped.

Then in May, the KS2 spelling, punctuation and grammar (Spag) test paper was mistakenly uploaded to Pearson’s secure site, which is accessible to markers the day before the test is taken. The paper was then leaked by a marker to The Guardian newspaper. In this case, the test went ahead.

‘Broadly fit for purpose’

In its response to the review, the STA said: “These two breaches were deeply regrettable and highlighted weaknesses in the agency’s practices concerning quality assurance, clearance and managerial oversight. There were also underlying cultural factors which the agency had been aware of and was already working to address.”

The review concludes that the STA is “broadly fit for purpose”, but says that “STA staff are under enormous pressure to deliver a perfect process, given levels of scrutiny, and the potential reputational impact of a mistake. Staff also feel bruised by recent events and morale is low.”

It adds that the STA has not found the right balance between policy and delivery demands, saying that it did not give schools enough time to familiarise themselves with the 2016 guidance after “significant changes” to primary assessment.

It adds that the agency needs additional resources from the DfE to deliver the changes required.

Claire Burton, chief executive of the STA, said the agency “fully accepted” the findings of the review.

“Our main priority is to deliver high-quality testing and assessment to measure children’s educational attainment and progress at school,” she said.

“We have already taken steps to respond to the security breaches earlier this year, including restructuring the management team to ensure greater strategic oversight and improving internal processes.”

Mr Gibb said: “The review identified clear issues around strategic leadership at the agency, poor value for money and a lack of customer focus. Work is already underway to address those challenges and the STA has assured me it can, and will, make the changes required to prevent similar issues in future.”

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