Plans to send key stage 1 SATs papers to schools unless they opt out have been branded a “breathtaking waste of money”.
Leaders have demanded an explanation after the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) said it would continue to produce and send schools “optional” SATs materials for seven-year-olds, despite the tests becoming non-statutory this year.
Schools that don’t want to receive them have to opt out by November 17.
Sarah Hannafin, the head of policy at the school leaders’ union NAHT, told Schools Week the approach was “a breathtaking waste of money from a government that has so often told schools to make efficiency savings.
