No evidence base for new reading tests

Commenting on the Secretary of State for Education's announcement that the government will introduce new reading targets in schools, including a reading test for Year 8 pupils, Matt Wrack, General Secretary of NASUWT - The Teachers' Union, said:

"Unions have not been consulted on new proposals around reading targets and tests for pupils. With teachers' workloads at an all-time high, it is concerning that the Secretary of State is prioritising the introduction of further bureaucracy in schools. The creation and administration of these tests will come at a cost. Why is there suddenly funding for new tests but not enough money to fully fund the teachers' pay award, which keeps teachers in the profession?

"NASUWT would oppose attempts to re-introduce anything comparable to the high stakes Key Stage 3 SATs that the last Labour government rightly scrapped back in 2008. High stakes assessments can detract from teachers' efforts to secure high quality learning experiences for pupils.

"It is of the utmost importance that all children and young people leave school with the reading skills they need to succeed. But we see no evidence that similar assessments introduced by the previous government, such as the Year 1 phonics check or the Year 4 multiplication check, have supported high levels of pupil achievement or provided information about pupils that schools would not otherwise have had."