Nursery World - Less than 8 per cent of teachers believe baseline assessment is ‘fair and accurate’

Teaching unions are calling on the Government to scrap the Reception baseline after a damning report has found that most primary school teachers find it unreliable and inaccurate.

There are also serious concerns about the baseline’s impact on four-year-olds’ well-being.

Key findings – what teachers said about the baseline:

According to research commissioned jointly by teaching unions the National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, six in ten primary teachers and heads do not think the baseline is an accurate assessment of what four-year-olds can do when they start Reception.

A similar proportion believe that it disrupts children’s start at school, and around a third say that it has damaged their relationship with the Reception-class children at a time when they should be settling in.

The majority of schools are using their own informal entry assessments alongside the baseline to plan teaching and identify children with particular needs, because they have serious doubts about its accuracy.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included