A Shropshire education boss has labelled a tests marking delay as “diabolical and unforgivable”.Councillor Ann Hartley, Shropshire County Council cabinet member for children and young people’s services, has told Education Secretary Ed Balls delays in letting schools know the full SATs results for 11 and 14-year-olds has caused “considerable stress” to pupils.
The results for 11-year-olds, now set to be published next week, are expected to show a quarter failed to reach the level for their age in maths, while at least 20 per cent are predicted to fail in English.
Councillor Hartley said the marking fiasco was “a national scandal”.
She said Shropshire schools were already facing problems with the testing system two months ago.
“This whole business is diabolical and unforgivable,” she said.
“Children and schools are very upset, but what people don’t realise is there have been problems for some time.
“It is national scandal, but I am particularly concerned for my schools in Shropshire. They have been left in a complete mess.
“Pupils and teachers should be enjoying a good holiday, but they have been left with a lot of headaches.”
Councillor Hartley says the poor management and administration by the American company ETS, which has overseen the marking, has caused problems “throughout the whole of test season”.
She warns this will cause significant damage to the reputation and reliability of the testing system in the longer term.
In May, a number of schools, both primary and secondary, encountered a range of problems.
Many were unable to access the online register, while others had too little stationery. The collection of test scripts was erratic and many schools were unable to access the helpline.
Most schools did not have a complete set of results to report to parents and will have to send out supplementary sheets in the autumn.
Secondary schools will have to rely on incomplete child transfer file records, which will impact on planning for their new intake.
By Education Correspondent Dave Morris
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