40 children withheld from Shropshire schools in Sats protest
More than 40 children were absent in Shropshire schools as parents kept their children from taking Sats exams.
Parents across the country held a boycott of the key stage one exams, held on May 3, over claims the tests were too tough and children are overworked.
At a meeting of Shropshire Council's young people's scrutiny committee, council officer Chris Mathews, commissioner for education improvement and efficiency, said there were 42 unauthorised absences in the county's 20 primary schools.
He said: "There were 42 pupils were absent from 20 schools on the day of the KS1 Sats.
"It is a very low percentage that were absent."
Parents claimed that the tougher spelling, grammar and punctuation tests for seven and 11-years-olds set the children up to fail, while the Government says it aims to raise standards.
