Swinney announces independent review of P1 testing

An independent review of national testing for primary one pupils has been announced by Education Secretary John Swinney.

It comes after the Scottish Parliament voted last month against the use of standardised national assessments to measure the development of four- and five-year-olds.

Mr Swinney said the review would be “led by the evidence”, and could conclude the testing regime should be reformed or scrapped altogether.

He said schools should continue with the tests this year to avoid “uncertainty and confusion”.

Opposition parties accused Mr Swinney of failing to respect the will of Parliament.

The Scottish National Standardised Assessments (SNSA) were introduced last year by the Scottish Government as part of its efforts to close the attainment gap in schools.

However, teaching unions claimed some P1 youngsters have been reduced to tears as a result of the tests, and argued the regime does not provide teachers with useful data.

The Conservatives, Labour, Greens and Liberal Democrats united in Holyrood against the assessments.

Mr Swinney said the review will consider and provide recommendations on the compatibility of the assessments with the play-based approach to early levels of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE), the usefulness of the data provided to teachers, and the future of the assessments, including whether they should be “substantially modified” or stopped.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIe) will be consulted on who should carry out the review, with its conclusions expected by the end of May next year.

“It is important to further evaluate how the assessments are working which is why I have decided to commission an independent review of P1 assessments to reconsider the evidence,” Mr Swinney said.

“While an independent, evidence-based review could conclude that P1 assessment should be reformed, the review could also recommend a halt to the assessments.”

He continued: “To properly inform it, the review will clearly need to see the assessments in operation, so I reiterate my previous advice that schools should continue with their existing plans in relation to the implementation of SNSA in 2018/19.

“By proceeding with the assessments this year, we will generate a larger evidence base to see how the improvements we have already introduced are working, and what other changes could be made.

“To do otherwise would simply generate uncertainty and confusion during the school year.”

Responding to the announcement, Labour’s Iain Gray said: “The intent of the motion, and the will of this Parliament could not be clearer – it is that the national tests stop for Primary 1.

“This whole statement is his justification for refusing to respect the motion and defying this parliament.”

Conservative MSP Liz Smith said: “If he is now agreeing that there is need for an independent review, exactly what evidence was it that convinced him that four- and five-year-olds in Scotland needed to be tested in this way, when many high-performing education systems don’t consider such tests as either necessary or educationally beneficial?”

Green MSP Ross Greer said: “This was a missed opportunity for a government whose approach to education is not working.”