Hard SATs exams that left kids in ‘tears’ are being reviewed by schools minister

GRUELLING school tests that left Year 6 kids in “tears” will be reviewed by ministers. 

Parents and teachers let rip that last week’s reading SATs exam was too tough for 10 and 11-year-olds. 

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A gruelling school test that left kids in tears is being reviewed[/caption]

One leading union even complained that staff had struggled to answer some of the questions.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb today agreed to look into their concerns and said the tests should not be too tricky.

He said: “We will look at this. I will certainly look at this because I know that there has been concern expressed by some schools.

“We have psychometricians and practising teachers who put a lot of effort and time into making sure these tests are right for children.

“They do have to test a range of ability to make sure that we can show what proportion of children are exceeding the standard and so on.

“But we don’t want these tests to be too hard for children. That’s not the purpose.”

Teachers welcomed his review after they claimed the exam “went beyond” previous tests.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “We welcome Nick Gibb’s commitment to look at the concerns raised over the Key Stage 2 reading paper.

“We’ve received a lot of feedback that this paper was unnecessarily difficult and that it left children distressed and teachers very anxious about the impact on their pupils.”

James Bowen, assistant general secretary at the NAHT, said: “We are pleased that the Government will be looking at what happened with the reading test this year.

“We have had clear feedback from school leaders that this year’s paper was not pitched appropriately for a large proportion of pupils and even highly proficient readers struggled with it.”