Ministers make a great deal of righteous noise about holding teachers and schools to account through tests, tables and inspections. So it seems reasonable to expect the Government and its agencies to be accountable too.
Schools do not have the option of hiding their bad test results or keeping a negative Office for Standards in Education report to themselves.
So why should the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority be able to sit for two years on a report which casts doubt on the key stage 2 test results (see page 2).
The 12 per cent of NUT members who replied to questions about a Sats boycott hardly suggest a groundswell of feeling. But the QCA’s reluctance to come clean on tests could push more teachers over the edge. If the Government wants their trust, it has got to earn it.
