Don’t drill pupils for Sats, Ed Balls tells teachers

Schools Secretary Ed Balls today told teachers not to drill children to pass their Sats, in an admission that high-pressure tests put them off education.

For the first time, the Government sent guidance to headteachers warning that coaching pupils intensively in the run-up to the exams was "counterproductive".

Mr Balls signalled the current Sats regime, in which 600,000 primary children sit external tests in English and maths each summer, could be abandoned.

Child development experts have argued for years that pressure on schools to meet national targets was robbing pupils of a broad education. Teachers and heads are considering a national boycott of this year's Sats.

The new guidance represents a U-turn by ministers, who had insisted the problem was not widespread.

The Government says this year's Sats must go ahead. But in a letter to primary heads, Mr Balls said: "Many of you have told us of your concerns about teaching to the test. We agree with you that last-minute drilling is neither necessary nor desirable."

The guidance states: "There is good evidence to suggest that teaching to the test' can turn children off learning. In short, we feel the approach is counterproductive and one to be discouraged."