Editorials

47% of children failed by the government

6 July 2016

By Lauren E. White

Yesterday Year Two and Year Six students across the country received their Standard Attainment Tests (SATs) results. The annual tests have previously not been marked on a pass or fail basis, but with a brand new curriculum taught to eleven-year-olds which is far tougher and more abstract than any before, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan thought it would be a good idea. Well, she was quite clearly wrong.

While 53% of pupils achieved the expected standard in the tests and should quite rightly be commended for it, 47% did not. After being made to learn grammar for grammar’s sake at such a young age, these children are left hanging in the lurch at the end of their primary school education, or for some, the beginning. How can a government tell an eleven-year-old child that after around nine years in education, they have failed? How can they then send them off to secondary school with a spring in their step? The simple answer is this: they can’t.

It is quite clear that 47% of children in this country have been let down by this government. They went through a week of extreme pressure and stress, causing some children to break down during the Year Six reading paper, and for what? If this is the bleak outlook for the future of our primary schools then we should be ashamed. That’s why we should be proud that our teachers were out striking for education yesterday. After all, they were defending both themselves and our children.

Nicky Morgan may describe her SATs as academically rigorous and in the light of these results, she’ll also tell parents and schools not to compare them with past results. In part, she has a point. The concept of achieving the expected standard doesn’t match up with previous national standards. However, it’s quite clear that children could have performed better in the old tests and not be told they have either passed or failed primary school education.

No matter what these children have attained in their Year Two or Year Six SATs, they are all special individuals. Nicky Morgan’s SATs are not made for all children, only some. With assessments that work only for the academically able, children will be left behind and what will Ms Morgan do about that? What will Ms Morgan do to reassure the 47% that while her team and her government have failed, they have not?

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