Pupils too 'punch drunk' with testing to face GCSEs

Pupils are "punch drunk" with testing by the time they sit GCSE exams, a teachers' leader said yesterday. As a result, they fail to take them as seriously enough, Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the 140,000-strong Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said at the opening of her union's annual conference in Bournemouth.</p>She said union research showed that children enjoyed school lessand less through primary and secondary school because of the constant testing. During their school careers, youngsters will have sat more than 100 national tests - far more than any other country, she said. They were being denied their rights to a broad and balanced school curriculum because teachers felt under pressure to "teach to the test" and "protect their school's ranking in league tables".</p>The union debates a motion this week to ballot its members on banning co-operation with league tables - by refusing to supply the information necessary to the Government to complete them. The Government publishes league tables of pupils' performance in national curriculum tests for 11- and 14-year-olds as well as those for GCSE and A-level results. </p>