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The government’s education committee is to launch an inquiry into primary assessment following what the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has called “chaos and confusion” around the topic.

 

Earlier this year, and later, a security breach led to the cancellation of the key stage 1 spelling, punctuation and grammar test.

 

The inquiry will allegedly see MPs examine the advantages and disadvantages of assessing pupils at primary, and the steps now needed to improve the system.

 

Neil Leitch, chief executive at the Pre-school Learning Alliance, said that he warmly welcomes the inquiry, and hopes that it will prompt the government to rethink its approach to primary assessment.

 

“Over recent years, primary education policy in England has become increasingly focussed on testing as a way of measuring and ranking schools, with too little regard to whether it actually benefits children’s learning and development,” Neil said.

 

“Although plans to introduce a reception baseline assessment have been scrapped, the government has been clear that it is still looking for an alternative replacement, and so it’s vital that there is clarity on what the purpose of this would be and what it would look like in practice at the earliest possible stage.”

 

Neil added that he strongly believes that any assessment introduced at the start of primary school should be observational, broad-based and promote a holistic and well-rounded approach to learning.

 

“We look forward to the committee exploring this in more detail during the inquiry,” Neil said.