Key stage three tests
The head of
The QCA qualifications watchdog said "a myriad of issues and errors" caused the chaos in the tests for teenagers.
Its review was critical of senior management and concluded "the whole test operations process is not robust in any sense".
Government Response: Department for Education and Skills
David Milliband, school standards minister, said: "It's vital for schools and parents that a delay in delivering results does not occur in the future. The report is a thorough assessment into what went wrong. I welcome QCA's commitment to act on the recommendations to ensure this does not happen again."
Stakeholder Response: Association of Teachers and Lecturers
Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), said: "The report highlights the contrasting purposes of the testing: teachers need something diagnostic while the government’s interest is in accurately measuring national standards. ATL believes it is time to stop trying to make one set of tests for both purposes.
"It is to QCA's credit that they acted swiftly to find out what went wrong in 2004, although, it has to be said that it is not the first year that there have been concerns about the quality of the English marking, a problem the report rightly acknowledges.
"ATL's view is that key stage testing in its present form is nearing the end of its shelf life. We are pressing the government to commit to a rigorous new approach. But while
"Even if 2004's difficulties came as no surprise, it was not fair to the country's 14-year-olds to have subjected them to a high stress experience that lacked reliability.
"The review board's suggestions are reassuring in their level of detail – but beg the question about whether, in the end, it is all worth while. The government could find that even a genuinely improved system in 2005 still represents poor value for public money."
Stakeholder Response: National Union of Teachers
Steve Sinnott, NUT general secretary, said: "I welcome this clear and explicit report and its recommendations for avoiding such chaos in future. It is not fair to young people and their teachers that failings at the top in the handling of the testing process should add to the difficulties they face.
"These tests are of dubious value but then to have the process handled so badly is unacceptable.
"I welcome the recommendations in the report which should help ensure that such confusion does not occur in the future.
"The results show that teachers and pupils are continuing to work hard in improving test results. They are to be congratulated for their efforts."
Stakeholder Response: Secondary Heads Association
Dr
"I am pleased that QCA and NAA have apologised for the mistakes and that a fundamental reorganisation of the lines of responsibility and personnel will take place. Schools that suffered from the problems needed the reassurance of an thorough review and heads will welcome the inquiry team's report.
"There has long been a widespread lack of confidence, particularly among English teachers, in the key stage three English tests and the problems in 2004 have further dented this confidence.
"This year’s muddle has been upsetting not only for teachers, but for pupils and their parents as well. It is to be hoped that the changes that will follow the inquiry report will be adequate to ensure that there is no repeat of these failures in future."
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