Head teachers will shortly be writing to all parents of children who would normally be taking the SAT tests next year. The National Association of Head Teachers want to end the tests as they say that they narrow the curriculum and interfere with proper education as teachers are forced to teach to the test.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families has said previously that head teachers have a statutory duty to administer the tests, so would be breaking the law if they did not.
It is not really the tests which are a problem as they only take about three mornings out of the school year, but it is the publishing of the tests, which forces Head Teachers to believe that they need to practice for them, give homework on them, have after school clubs etc so that the school does not ‘fail’.