Nursery World - Educators call for primary school testing to be scrapped

A new report calls for all tests in primary school, including the baseline assessment and phonics screening check, to be replaced by a system that prioritises children’s learning.

ICAPE want current testing in primary schools to be replaced by a system that prioritises children's learning PHOTO Adobe Stock

It is also recommends that the EYFS profile assessment, carried out at the end of Reception year, be made non-statutory.

The report from the Independent Commission on Assessment in Primary Education (ICAPE), whose members include teachers, headteachers and researchers, recommends all Government testing of primary school pupils be removed, changing the focus from school and teacher league tables to children’s learning.

Based upon years of research, two separate surveys of parents and educators and the expertise of its commissioners, the report argues that current policies and practices of primary assessment are in need of ‘urgent reform’, making a number of recommendations that would overhaul the current system, including:

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