Primary schools across Shropshire today still do not know the full test results for 11-year-olds after an administrative fiasco delayed marking.The Key Stage 2 SATs results had been due for national publication on July 8 and after a week’s delay teachers were able to begin accessing them online yesterday.
But not all the subject results are available. Some schools are also challenging the scores pupils have been given .
It could be September before parents have full details of how their children performed.
At an emergency Commons committee meeting on Monday, MPs were told that while 100 per cent of Key Stage 2 marking was complete, it had not all been entered on the electronic data system used for recording marks.
The children, schools and families select committee also heard that American firm ETS Europe which was hired to carry out this year’s marking may face penalties running into “tens of millions of pounds”.
Stephen Burrell, Telford & Wrekin Council’s lead member for children and young people, said: “To our knowledge, no borough schools have had problems logging on to the relevant site, but once there, some have noticed that not all of their results are available, particularly maths.
“This is likely to be down to the fact that some schools’ papers were returned unmarked and have needed to be sent back to ETS Europe.
“Some schools have also made the decision to send their scripts back for re-marking.”
Councillor Burrell added: “We will continue to work closely with all of our schools to support them with any issues arising and will be keeping in touch with the National Assessment Agency regarding any further concerns that we are made aware of.”
Shropshire County Council spokesman, Gareth Proffitt, said the results for 21 of its schools were still incomplete.
“If delays mean results can’t be sent out before the end of term, they will be sent out in September, after the summer holidays,” he confirmed.
By Dave Morris
One Comment
I am a Primary school teacher of over 20 years experience.If teaching staff had shown even half this level of incompetence, Ofsted would have exploded with indignation and slung them out of the profession.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families,The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA),The private contractor, ETS Europe,The National Assessment Agency, are all burying their heads in the sand.
No-one from ETS/NAA/DCSF/Government has had the good manners to stand up and admit
that mistakes have been made. They are all merely passing the buck.
And as long as there are that many cooks spoiling the broth, they can carry on being incompetent.
My disbelief was complete when a colleague who is a marker said she was a Music teacher….asked if she had ever taught Science, she answered in the negative. She had applied to mark English papers but had been told she had to mark Science. So not only is the administration a total fiasco, the helpdesk, unhelpful and the papers missing, but we now have totally inexperienced and underprepared people marking the papers.
This is verging on scandalous. A tremendous waste of money.The system must be scrapped. Let teachers teach - not coach children to pass tests which arguably indicate nothing more than the teachers already know about a given child’s abilities. Year 6 children have little or nothing to gain from the results - the decision on secondary school is generally already made. Year 9 can take internal end of year tests to decide on their subjects/class for year 10 onwards - just as we did years ago. It’s straightforward, immediate, more constructive and significantly cheaper. Can we put the back funding where it belongs - with the schools and the teachers, and stop this obsession with outsourcing,centralising and targets.
At least it’ll probably mean the end of SATs, thank goodnesss, and we can get back to teaching not coaching. It comes to some thing when Wales and Scotland get it right in dumping this waste of time, money and trees.
I have a vague memory of something called the Ministry of Education. It looked after education, if I recall.Unfortunately,educating its children is a nation’s responsibility. It shouldn’t be left to ‘private contractors’.