Sats results up but targets failed again

A pupil at Withington Girls School receives her exam results in Manchester, August 21, 2003.

LONDON (Reuters) - The number of pupils reaching expected standards in national tests for 11 year-olds rose slightly this year but were again below the government's target level, official figures showed on Tuesday.

The results of the Key Stage 2 Sats, which test primary school children in English, maths and science, have been shrouded in controversy because of issues with the marking, conducted for the first time this year by ETS Europe.

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) said it "beggars belief" that the government had decided to go ahead with the provisional results despite delays and concerns over quality.

The figures showed that 61 percent of children had reached level 4 -- the grade they are expected to reach -- in reading, writing and maths, up one percent from last year.

The results found that 81 percent of pupils reached level 4 in English, and 78 percent achieved that grade in Maths, both up one percent from last year. In science, the figure was unchanged at 88 percent.

But that meant the figures were once again below the government's 85 percent target for English and maths.

"I want to congratulate schools and pupils for all their hard work," said Schools Minister Jim Knight, adding: "There is still more work to be done before our education system is truly world class."

He said 101,000 more 11-year-olds were reaching the required standard in English than in 1997, and 93,000 in maths.

The tests, first introduced by the Conservatives in 1994, have become a backbone of the government's education policy since Labour came to power in 1997.

However, improvements in the results have slowed over recent years after a strong increase in children's performances in the late 90s.

This year the exams have been dogged by problems with ETS with thousands of pupils failing to receive their results by the end of term as expected because of problems with marking.

Some schools said pupils who took the exams were marked down as absent while the NAHT said there had been widespread concern about the quality of the marking.

The NAHT said it had received more then 300 emails from school leaders highlighting examples of maladministration and inaccuracies.

"These may well represent only the 'tip of the iceberg' in terms of national concerns about the reliability and validity of this year's results," the union said in a statement.

Meanwhile a report by right-wing think tank Civitas also released on Tuesday said nine out of 10 secondary school teachers could not rely on the Key Stage 2 results as a reflection of pupils' true ability.

The report, based on a survey of 107 teachers, found 77 percent believed pupils were achieving higher results because they were being coached at primary school for the tests.

"The purpose of testing in state schools has come to be more about 'proving' that standards are rising -- irrespective of whether they actually are -- than genuinely gauging standards," said the report's author Anastasia de Waal.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families said it rejected the report's findings, saying they were based on a small sample of teachers. It said standards were rising.

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(editing by Steve Addison)