Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Parents to see details of test results

Judith Judd
Thursday 01 May 1997 23:02 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

New scores for national tests for 11-year-olds will be introduced this year because the present marking system does not give parents enough information.

As well as being told what level their children have reached, parents will be able to ask for scores which show how they have performed in reading, spelling, maths and mental arithmetic compared with others born in the same month.

Tests for 600,000 14-year-olds begin next Tuesday and for 600,000 11- year-olds the following Monday. Seven-year-olds are also being tested this term. At present most pupils at each age are awarded one of three levels.

Officials at the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority, which advises the Government on testing, said yesterday that schools would not be required by law to give parents the new age-standardised scores but they hoped that most would decide to do so if parents requested them.

Schools are required to tell parents the level reached by their children. Seven-year-olds are expected to reach Level 2, 11-year-olds Level 4 and 14-year-olds between Levels 5 and 6. The new scores will range from 70- 130.

Nick Tate, the authority's chief executive, said: "The criticism has been that Level 4 has been too broad-brush and that to be told your child is on Level 4 along with practically every other child in the school is not giving the degree of discrimination parents want.

"The age-standardised score is a more accurate reflection of how well a child is doing in relation to other children."

A pilot last year in which seven-year-olds were given age-standardised reading scores in reading, spelling and maths had been well received, he said. However, Dr Tate said levels were a good way of measuring the comparative performance schools.

This year new grammar, spelling and punctuation tests are being piloted for 14-year-olds and new mental arithmetic tests are being tried out for 11- and 14-year-olds.

Around 3 per cent of schools which volunteered for the grammar tests have withdrawn after seeing sample tests, either because they disapprove of the questions or feel their pupils are not ready for them.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in