Key stage 1 SATs will be scrapped from 2023, Justine Greening has confirmed.
In her response to the government’s consultation on primary testing, the education secretary said she would proceed with proposals to make the tests sat by 7-year-olds non-statutory for schools.
The proposal was first outlined in March, when Greening announced she was setting out to create a more “stable and proportionate” primary testing system.
She has also confirmed plans for new baseline tests for reception children.
It follows a chaotic year for primary assessment in 2016, when the introduction of new, harder tests prompted reports of increased stress among pupils, protests and boycotts by parents and pleas from school leaders for an end to the system.
The government has also announced that it will no longer require schools to submit teacher assessment data of reading and maths to the government at the end of key stage 2.
Greening said today that the changes would “free up teachers to educate and inspire young children while holding schools to account in a proportionate and effective way”.
Some unions have welcomed the changes, with the headteachers’ union NAHT claiming the proposal to scrap key stage 1 SATs and replace them with a baseline is “absolutely the right thing to do”.
However, Kevin Courtney, the joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said the tests should be scrapped sooner.
“Despite these improvements, the government response confirms that key stage 1 will remain in place until at least 2023 and KS2 SATs will remain in place indefinitely,” he said.
“This is bad news for children, parents and education professionals.”
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