Teachers have sparked outrage over the results of the new SATs tests for Year 6 children. The NUT teaching union has called for the education secretary Nicky Morgan to resign after almost half of Year 6 children failed to meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths. Nationally, 53 per cent of children reached the expected standard in this year’s Sats – compared with 80 per cent of pupils who achieve the expected level 4 in all three last year.

Kevin Courtney, acting general secretary of the NUT, said: "This is extraordinarily demoralising for children who are just about to make the big step up to secondary school. They have been told they haven't reached the expected standard to start secondary school. He concluded to say "A Secretary of State who demands accountability from schools should apply that principle to herself."
“Because of the major failings of a key reform, and because of the effect of those failings on schools and children, the National Union of Teachers strongly feel Ms Morgan should resign from her office.” However, supporters of the tests, which were significantly tougher this year as part of Government efforts to increase rigour in the classroom, told teachers bluntly to stop complaining.

Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham, said: “The Department for Education has made the changes to the curriculum and tests to move expectations in England closer to international standards. The teachers should stop whingeing and concentrate on getting our children up to speed.” Almost half of 11-year-olds in England – 47 per cent – failed to meet the required standards in this year’s SATs, up from 20 per cent last year. But the Government said the results could not be compared with previous years because they are the first to be based on a new curriculum introduced two years ago by former education secretary Michael Gove. The exams in reading, writing and maths were overhauled to include questions of a much higher level, with some parents saying their children had been left in tears because they could not finish the papers. Mr Courtney said: ‘It is really important that we reassure parents and children that this is not an accurate judgment of their abilities. This is not their failure – it’s Nicky Morgan’s failure.’

Tests should not be compared
Earlier in the week, Ms Morgan stressed that this year's key stage 2 results should not be compared with other years as this is the first year of the new tests. She added: "I believe this is a good start that vindicates our decision to raise standards and will help ensure those who need extra help get the support they need to lay the foundations for a bright future." But the NUT has today called on Ms Morgan to resign from office following "major failings" around the primary assessment reforms.

In a joint statement, the NAHT headteachers' union and the National Governors’ Association have also urged schools not to draw conclusions from the Sats data as "it provides no intelligence on the rate of improvement of teaching and learning". Both organisations recognise that many will be "feeling demoralised" and the Sats results will be a "challenge" for schools to deal with. Latest reports suggest many headteachers will feel a sense of failure and have no option but to resign. One primary headteacher wrote an emotional letter to parents saying that it “breaks his heart” to give out the Sats results. "Pupils, teachers and parents and all involved in schools should be proud of the work they have put in to implement [the new curriculum and the testing regime] in what has been a very short timescale," they added.

The day the results were published last Tuesday, the NUT held a national strike over working hours, workload pressure and budget cuts. A source close to Ms Morgan said: "Following derisory support for their ‎strike last week this is just another attention seeking tactic from the NUT leadership as their general secretary election draws near. ‎Because the truth is the only people who have labelled children failures following last week's key stage 2 results are the NUT themselves. "In contrast this government introduced a more rigorous new curriculum because we know that our children are capable of reaching the same high standards as their counterparts across the world. That's why we make no apology for raising the bar so that we can be sure children ‎are able to read, write and add up well by the time they finish primary school. That is what parents expect of us and to do anything else would let children down. "Rather than constantly undermining achievements of their members the NUT should be celebrating them and making plain the fantastic achievements of teachers in transforming the life chances of the children in their care." The Department of Education said: “We share the same objective as parents, which is making sure their children get the best start in life.”