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1483425

	registered interest
	date	27/06/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	National Curriculum Tests
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that SATs do not have a negative impact on the emotional wellbeing of primary school students.
	tabling member constituency	Richmond Park
	tabling member printed	Sarah Olney
	uin	25963
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/07/2022 answer text <p>​Assessment is a crucial part of a child’s schooling and fundamental in a high-performing education system. At primary school, statutory assessments are an essential part of ensuring that all pupils master the basics of reading, writing and maths to prepare them for secondary school. Assessment data also enables parents, schools and the department to understand the impact of lost time in education and recovery initiatives.</p><p>Schools should encourage pupils to work hard and achieve well, but the department does not recommend that they devote excessive preparation time to assessments, and certainly not at the expense of pupils’ mental health and wellbeing. We trust schools to administer assessments in the appropriate way.</p><p>Research conducted by UCL Institute of Education, published in 2021, found that there was ‘little evidence to changes in [pupil] wellbeing around the time of key stage 2 tests, or that children in England become happier - either in general or about school - once these tests are over’.</p><p>Nevertheless, the department knows that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people and will have an impact in the longer-term. Mental health and wellbeing are a priority for the government, and we remain committed to promoting and supporting mental health and wellbeing support in schools and colleges. In May 2021, the department announced an investment of over £17 million of mental health funding to improve mental health and wellbeing support in schools and colleges. This includes £9.5 million dedicated to training senior mental health leads in over 8,000 schools and colleges, with an additional £3 million announced this year to extend this training to even more schools and colleges. The training will equip leads with the skills and knowledge to develop a culture and ethos that promotes positive mental health wellbeing, as well as how to make the best use of local resources to support children and young people experiencing issues such as anxiety.</p><p>The department has also recently brought together all its sources of advice for schools and colleges into a single site on GOV.UK, which includes signposting to external sources of mental health and wellbeing support for teachers, school staff and school leaders. The site is available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mental-health-and-wellbeing-support-in-schools-and-colleges#mental-health-and-wellbeing-resources" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mental-health-and-wellbeing-support-in-schools-and-colleges#mental-health-and-wellbeing-resources</a>. ​</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 05/07/2022 15:45:54 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4591 label Biography information for Sarah Olney

1461762

	registered interest
	date	11/05/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	National Curriculum Tests
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of SATs on primary children’s mental health.
	tabling member constituency	Slough
	tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
	uin	930
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/05/2022 answer text <p>The department knows that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people and will have an impact in the longer-term. We expect leaders and teachers to consider their pupils’ mental health and wellbeing as a priority and identify those who may need additional support.</p><p>Although schools should encourage all pupils to work hard and achieve well in primary assessments, the department does not recommend that they devote excessive time to preparation, and certainly not at the expense of pupils’ mental health and wellbeing. Schools should support a culture of wellbeing amongst staff and pupils.</p><p>Children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing is a priority for this government. The department is continuing to help schools support children and young people’s wellbeing, announcing in May 2021 more than £17 million of mental health funding to improve mental health and wellbeing support in schools and colleges. This includes £9.5 million dedicated to training senior mental health leads in over 8,000 schools and colleges, with an additional £3 million announced this year to extend this training to even more schools and colleges. The training will equip leads with the skills and knowledge to develop a culture and ethos that promotes positive mental health wellbeing, as well as how to make the best use of local resources to support children and young people experiencing issues such as anxiety.</p><p>The department has also recently brought together all its sources of advice for schools and colleges into a single site on GOV.UK, which includes signposting to external sources of mental health and wellbeing support for teachers, school staff and school leaders. This site is available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mental-health-and-wellbeing-support-in-schools-and-colleges#mental-health-and-wellbeing-resources" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mental-health-and-wellbeing-support-in-schools-and-colleges#mental-health-and-wellbeing-resources</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 18/05/2022 13:12:04 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1461763

	registered interest
	date	11/05/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	National Curriculum Tests
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of SATs in measuring children’s learning and attainment.
	tabling member constituency	Slough
	tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
	uin	928
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/05/2022 answer text <p>The main purpose of statutory assessment, as set out in the Standards and Testing Agency’s test frameworks is to ascertain what pupils have achieved in relation to the age-related attainment targets set out in the national curriculum. These test frameworks are available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-curriculum-assessments-test-frameworks" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-curriculum-assessments-test-frameworks</a>. A validity framework to demonstrate how well the tests meet this purpose is published in the appendices of the test handbook, available on GOV.UK.</p><p> </p><p>Due to the cancellations of the statutory assessments in 2020 and 2021, the most recent version of the test handbook is from 2019 and is available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2019-national-curriculum-test-handbook" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2019-national-curriculum-test-handbook</a>.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 18/05/2022 13:23:58 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1462016

	registered interest
	date	11/05/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	National Curriculum Tests
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment of similarities between elements of the 11+ practice examination paper and this year's key stage 2 Standard Assessment Test; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
	tabling member printed	Stephen Morgan
	uin	932
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/05/2022 answer text <p>The test development process used by the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) is rigorous, with teachers and experts commenting on the materials throughout the three-year development process. These reviewers are selected to be broadly nationally representative, in terms of geography and school type, to minimise bias. The 2022 key stage 2 reading test went through these processes and the expert reviewers considered all materials appropriate and fair.</p><p> </p><p>STA cannot entirely mitigate against pupils having already read certain texts, or against them being used by other organisations developing materials for schools, though checks are undertaken throughout the process. There are many resources and practice papers in the public domain, and it would be impractical and expensive to monitor them all. When it is identified late in the development process that a text has been used elsewhere, STA must also consider whether setting aside the text would be an appropriate use of public money. Although STA makes use of specifically written texts where possible, particularly for non-fiction, fiction texts can come across as contrived and the use of high-quality texts by published authors is essential.</p><p> </p><p>STA are confident that the 2022 reading test was appropriate and accessible for all pupils.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 19/05/2022 10:45:22 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1462133

	registered interest
	date	11/05/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	National Curriculum Tests
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) educational value and (b) impact on children and schools of proceeding with SATS in the 2021-22 year in the context of disruption resulting from the covid-19 outbreak.
	tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
	tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
	uin	723
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2022 answer text <p>The department recognises that pupils will have missed a critical period of their learning due to disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Statutory assessments at the end of key stage 2 are an important part of our primary education system. Assessments provide vital information to parents about their child’s attainment and help schools identify where additional support is best targeted to individuals. The school performance measures generated from these assessments play an important role in supporting schools to improve, helping us to hold primary schools to account for the education they provide.</p><p>This year, the data from the assessments will help parents, schools, and the department to understand more clearly the impact of the pandemic on pupils and how this varies between particular groups of pupils, schools and local authorities. The decision to return to a full programme of primary assessments in the 2021/22 academic year was considered carefully and in taking this decision, we discussed our plans with a range of stakeholders, including teachers, school leaders and unions.</p><p>The department knows that the pandemic has impacted the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people and will have an impact in the longer-term. The department expects leaders and teachers to consider their pupils’ mental health and wellbeing as a priority and identify those who may need additional support.</p><p>Although schools should encourage all pupils to work hard and achieve well, the department does not recommend that they devote excessive preparation time to assessment, and certainly not at the expense of pupils’ mental health and wellbeing. Schools should support a culture of wellbeing amongst staff and pupils.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 20/05/2022 13:03:42 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1458402

	registered interest
	date	19/04/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	National Curriculum Tests
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department made of the effect on children of his decision to continue with Key Stage 1 SATs examinations in 2022 prior to the announcement of that decision.
	tabling member constituency	Twickenham
	tabling member printed	Munira Wilson
	uin	155928
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2022 answer text <p>The decision to return to a full programme of primary assessments in 2021/22 was considered carefully and consulted many, including teachers, school leaders and unions.</p><p>The department recognises that pupils will have missed a critical period of their learning due to partial school closures in the 2019/20 and 2020/21 academic years. It is vital that the department knows the impact of COVID-19 on this cohort of pupils nationally, including at the end of Key Stage 1, and can give support to schools that need it the most.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 25/04/2022 12:11:17 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4776 label Biography information for Munira Wilson

1458403

	registered interest
	date	19/04/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	National Curriculum Tests
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the resumption of Key Stage (a) 1 and (2) SATs examinations do not have a negative impact on the wellbeing of children.
	tabling member constituency	Twickenham
	tabling member printed	Munira Wilson
	uin	155929
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2022 answer text <p>The department knows that the pandemic has impacted the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people, and will have an impact in the longer-term. We expect leaders and teachers to consider their pupils’ mental health and wellbeing as a priority and identify those who may need additional support.</p><p>With regard to assessments, although schools should encourage all pupils to work hard and achieve well, the department does not recommend that they devote excessive preparation time to assessment, and certainly not at the expense of pupils’ mental health and wellbeing. Schools should support a culture of wellbeing amongst staff and pupils.</p><p>Children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing is a priority for this government. The department is continuing to help schools support children and young people’s wellbeing. In May 2021 we announced more than £17 million of mental health funding to improve mental health and wellbeing support in schools and colleges. This includes £9.5 million dedicated to training senior mental health leads in over 8,000 schools and colleges, with an additional £3 million announced this year to extend this training to even more schools and colleges. The training will equip leads with the skills and knowledge to develop a culture and ethos that promotes positive mental health wellbeing, as well as how to make the best use of local resources to support children and young people experiencing issues such as anxiety.</p><p>The department has also recently brought together all its sources of advice for schools and colleges into a single site on GOV.UK, which includes signposting to external sources of mental health and wellbeing support for teachers, school staff and school leaders.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 25/04/2022 12:34:58 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4776 label Biography information for Munira Wilson

1458404

	registered interest
	date	19/04/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	National Curriculum Tests
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the number of children that will complete their curriculum studies prior to the next round of Key Stage 2 SATs examinations.
	tabling member constituency	Twickenham
	tabling member printed	Munira Wilson
	uin	155930
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2022 answer text <p>The final decision about entering individual pupils for the end of Key Stage 2 (KS2) assessments is for the pupil’s headteacher, as outlined in the department’s assessment and reporting arrangements guidance. If a pupil is working at the overall standard of a given test or assessment and is moving on to Key Stage 3 (KS3) in the following academic year, they should be entered for that particular test or assessment. This includes where they may not have covered all aspects of the curriculum in as much detail as would have been the case without the disruption over the last two years due to the pandemic.</p><p>If the headteacher decides that a pupil is working below the overall standard and should not be entered for the end of KS2 assessments, schools will still need to undertake an appropriate form of assessment using either the pre-key stage standard (for pupils engaged in subject specific study) or the engagement model (for pupils not engaged in subject specific study).</p><p>A key purpose of assessments this academic year is to gain an understanding of the impact of the pandemic, precisely because almost all children will have missed some time in education over the last two years. Headteachers will be best placed to judge if the absence of a pupil has been so significant that the pupil is not working at the overall standard as a result.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 25/04/2022 12:07:48 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4776 label Biography information for Munira Wilson

1456443

	registered interest
	date	31/03/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	National Curriculum Tests
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what advice his Department has given to schools on how SAT results will be used in the 2021-22 academic year to measure future performance.
	tabling member constituency	Feltham and Heston
	tabling member printed	Seema Malhotra
	uin	151116
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/04/2022 answer text <p>On 25 March 2022, the department published updated primary school accountability guidance. This guidance provides clarification about the rationale for the return of primary tests and assessments in 2022. It includes further information about key stage 2 accountability arrangements and the use of academic year 2021/22 key stage 2 school performance data. It also provides additional detail on the department’s planned methodological changes to primary progress measures for 2022. The guidance can be accessed here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/primary-school-accountability" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/primary-school-accountability</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 19/04/2022 10:54:45 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4253 label Biography information for Seema Malhotra