Sylvia Munro, an Aberdeen maths teacher, said it was well-known that some schools rehearsed for the tests the day before and that their results were above others. Unless tests were externally assessed they had no educational value.

Mike Corbett, East Dunbartonshire and national recruitment team, called for the Scottish Executive to abandon tests in favour of teacher judgments.

Teachers had been “duped” into backing the new assessment system which increased the number of tests in his own subject, English.

“Let’s abandon this nonsensical waste of time and resources,” John Kelly, East Dunbartonshire, said.