Ofsted chair Christine Gilbert will lead an independent review into SATs following the nine-day delay to results. SATs results were released this morning, after being postponed from 7 July due to technical issues with contractor Pearson’s marking and data systems. Schools Week documented how markers faced weeks of glitches with the online marking platform. The Department for Education said the review will establish how the “serious failings” occurred, examining the precise nature of the issues that led to the delay and where they came from. It will evaluate whether changes to the delivery and operation of results – including a new model – could improve things. Writing for Schools Week, education secretary Bridget Phillipson said the review would look at the “extent a new model for delivering results could help in future”. “It’s important we acknowledge this is not the first time in recent memory that schools have faced challenges with key stage 2 assessment results. “That cannot become a pattern, and all options are on the table for how we deliver these results in future years.” She also reassured schools that the delay “had nothing to do with the quality of the tests, nor the accuracy of the marking” and that the standards maintenance process “has been completed as planned”. The review will conclude in autumn. Gilbert to lead review Gilbert became chair of Ofsted in June last year. She was also its chief inspector between 2006 and 2011. She led the independent review into the watchdog’s response to the death of headteacher Ruth Perry. The SATs review will look at the role Pearson, who deliver SATs on a £130 million contract, the Standards and Testing Agency, the DfE and, where relevant, exams regulator Ofqual, had in the process. It will explore “what changes can be made to improve the delivery and operation of tests going forward to avoid any further disruption to schools and pupils, and, most importantly, to rebuild trust with both schools and families”. A Pearson spokeperson said they would cooperate with the review, and said they were sorry that results “were not delivered to the original timetable”. Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said the union will participate in the review, adding that the government must ensure Pearson and the STA “are held accountable for this shambles”. New delivery model? The DfE said it would explore “all options for recourse”, including financial penalties and cancelling the contract between Pearson and the previous government. The running of SATs has been outsourced for years. It was initially managed as several contracts before the government created one overall contract. This is the first year Pearson has managed the tests since it beat Capita to the £180m contract in 2024. Capita’s first year of running the tests was plagued with issues. In 2022 thousands of papers went missing, markers were locked out of training and there were excessive helpline waiting times. This years’ issues have prompted renewed calls from unions to bring SATs back into the public sector. The government recently published guidance on reducing outsourcing, and Andy Burnham recently told MPs he would rein in the practice.