Plans have also been drawn up to hand more powers to the school's inspectorate Ofsted and beef up school inspections in England before an education white paper next year.
One of the most controversial proposals sitting in the in-tray of the new education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, is to reintroduce externally marked standard assessment tests ( Sats ) at the end of key stage 3 when most pupils are 14.
The tests were abolished by Labour in 2008 after a series of inquiries concluded that they fuelled a “pervasive anxiety” in younger pupils’ lives and distorted children’s education. Sats currently take place at ages seven and 11, in English, maths and sometimes science.
Sources said ministers were worried that key stage 3, which covers the first three years of secondary school, had “got a bit lost” because there is no assessment at the end of it, and children can end up losing focus. Some schools have started teaching GCSE courses a year early, in year 9.
This story is from the October 02, 2021 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the October 02, 2021 edition of The Guardian.
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