It seemed a noble aim for new Labour to prioritise ‘education, education, education’. However, the method they have chosen since coming to power has been a regime of relentless exams, with children now facing assessments at ages 5, 7, 11, 14, 16, 17 & 18. The idea was to hold schools to account as never before, focus attention on each pupil’s progress and thereby raise standards.
However well intentioned, it has become clear that these tests also have damaging side effects, as teachers adopt shortcuts to improve statistics, whether or not they are in the pupil’s best interest.
The tests may be good for the government but they do not necessarily help produce a rounded child and standards have not risen as hoped for.
Warwick Mansell is the Curriculum and exams correspondent for the Times Educational Supplement. The only journalist researching the subject in detail, he has gathered extensive data and research on schools testing and exams and interviewed teachers, pupils and parents. In 2055, he was shortlisted for the Chartered Institute of Public Relations’ ‘Education Journalist of the Year’.
