Pointless SAT testing

The current chaos with the English SATs testing system is symptomatic of a wider problem, a government that is in a tailspin and unable to control anything. Given this situation, one has to question whether previous tests have any validity.

What is the point of all this testing? What has it achieved? A rise in standards? Hardly, only teachers and schools teaching to the tests rather than teaching to teach knowledge.

I cannot think of any teacher who thinks these are a good idea. Far better would be to set schools free to teach as they saw fit, free from the dead hand of bureaucracy and able to teach without having to look over their shoulders for inspectors who can destroy careers at a stroke and who are responsible for more stress than anything else in education.

STEWART GEDDES
Quality Street
Edinburgh