Tested to Destruction

Preview of Panorama: Tested to Destruction on BBC One 8.30pm Monday 12 May.

Are our children being tested to destruction in school?

This week in primary schools all over England children aged 11 are sitting down to do their Standard Assessment 'SATs' tests.

SATs TESTS Take a Test [1.4MB] Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader Download the reader here

But do the exams - as the Government claims - help to drive up standards?

Or are they narrowing the curriculum and creating a culture of "teaching to the test" - spoiling schools, and the education they can offer children?

League tables

Many teachers, parents, and children complain that the pressure of taking these exams outweighs any benefits.

Panorama reporter Vivian White, himself a former teacher, goes back to school, in search of the answers Read Vivian White's feature

The test results are published and ranked in league tables which some argue only adds to the pressure.

A House of Commons Select Committee is shortly to report on this very question - and the evidence they've received suggests that the Government may get poor marks.

Since devolution England has become the only part of the United Kingdom which is still committed to this system of regular high-pressure examinations - as their critics see them.

English children have to take SATs right through their school career and then take school-leaving exams.

Panorama reporter Vivian White, himself a former teacher, goes back to school, in search of the answers and asks if the Government needs to be taught a lesson by the rest of the UK?

Panorama: Tested to Destruction will be on BBC One at 8.30pm on Monday 12 May 2008.