School tables delayed after Sats fiasco

This year's performance tables for England's primary schools are to be published three months late, the Government announced today.

League tables ranking the performance of primary schools across England are usually published in December but have been delayed until March because of this summer's Sats fiasco.

One of the main reasons for the delay is because the deadline for schools to appeal against their Sats results was pushed back to September from July.

Today's announcement was condemned by parents' groups who said parents often use the tables to help them choose a primary school for their children.

Many council deadlines for primary school applications are earlier than March, which means that parents will not have the up-to-date information to help inform their decision.

Margaret Morrissey, of parents group Parents Out Loud, said: "Many parents do rely on this information, especially in large conurbations where there are lots of schools to choose from. They will be forced to do it manually or look at last year's."

She said parents had been "built up to use and need the tables" and now have been "left in the situation of having to manage without them at a time of making drastic decisions".

League tables, which are officially called achievement and attainment tables, show the percentage of pupils in each school who reached the level expected for their age in English, maths and science.

They also contain a "contextual value added" score which shows how much progress pupils have made during their time at the school.

Shadow children's secretary Michael Gove said: "This is a direct consequence of the Government's appalling handling of this year's Sats tests.

"Thousands of parents may not have up-to-date information on their local primary schools in time to make their choices for next year because of Ed Balls's chaotic exam regime. Yet ministers still refuse to apologise for their mistakes and we still don't what is happening with next year's tests."

Liberal Democrat children's spokesman David Laws said: "The whole system is in chaos and we're likely to see a massive increase in the number of appeals against test results, which will further undermine confidence in the system.

"The Government needs to massively scale back its overburdened national testing system."

Thousands of schoolchildren broke up for the summer holidays without knowing their Sats results following this year's shambles.

Contractor ETS was widely criticised for its handling of the tests, and apologised to pupils, parents and schools for the delays.

But the firm has insisted there is no evidence of problems with the quality of marking, a sentiment also expressed by exams regulator Ofqual.

An independent inquiry into the delays, led by Lord Sutherland, is due to report back in the autumn.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said: "We know parents use a range of information when choosing a school for their child including previous years' results, Ofsted reports, school prospectuses and, most importantly, visiting the school and talking to teachers.

"Achievement and attainment tables provide important information about a school's performance for parents to consider but, as we have always said, they are only part of the picture when choosing a school."

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