Testing times as 2008 ends

By Mike Baker

The Sats tests chaos became the biggest education story

The year's biggest education story in England could hardly have had more drama if it had come out of Hollywood.

It began with the optimism of a new partner and a fresh start. The spring brought the first signs that all was not well, as mutterings of concern turned into an underlying mistrust. By the summer there was chaos and upset everywhere.

Finally, as the bleak winter weather set in, it exploded in recrimination, dramatic departures, and fears for the future.

So, the winner of the 2008 education news story of the year has to be … the Sats marking fiasco.

This was a story with a long fuse. Indeed you could go back 20 years to the Education Reform Act of 1988, which created the Sats, or national curriculum tests as they are now more properly known.

Scotland never had them. Wales got rid of them. But in England, although they were trimmed, they remained as formal, externally marked tests at the ages of 11 and 14.

In May this year the House of Commons schools select committee issued a comprehensive report, which raised serious concerns about the high stake' nature of the tests and the way this encouraged "teaching to the test".

But ministers insisted the tests were here to stay. But that was before it emerged just what a mess the American contractor, ETS Europe, was making of the marking.

Scrapped

Training sessions for markers descended into farce, scripts went astray, and thousands of pupils had their results delayed, causing upset amongst children, parents and teachers.

So the contract with ETS was terminated, an inquiry was begun and then, in October, the government announced that the tests for 14 year-olds had been scrapped.

The final chapter came in December when the Sutherland Inquiry reported. It laid much of the blame at the door of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, whose head Dr Ken Boston had offered his resignation after getting a sneak preview of the findings.

So the man who arrived in the middle of the 2002 A-level marking fiasco - and who was picked by government to be the champion of the new Diplomas - now returns to his native Australia.

He leaves behind plenty of unfinished business, not least those Diplomas, which should have been the big story of 2008.

They still have the potential to be the biggest curriculum and qualification change since the creation of GCSEs.

But 2008 brought a subdued debut for this new approach to "applied learning". Amid uncertainty about just what sort of qualifications they really are - ministers refuse to call them "vocational" learning - the initial take-up was low, with just 12,000 students embarking on the first courses in the autumn.

It did not help that the Diplomas arrived at the same time as several other big changes, leading one head teachers' leader to talk about education's 'big bang'.

Report cards

The changes included the start of the Early Years Foundation Stage and extensive reforms to A-level courses, including the introduction of a new A* grade, intended to provide extra stretch for the brightest pupils.

2008 brought no respite to those hoping for a slowing of the pace of change. Future changes to the primary curriculum were previewed in the interim report from Sir Jim Rose and the government announced its ideas for school report cards.

Meanwhile head teachers were furious when ministers threatened to close 638 National Challenge schools if GCSE results failed to reach the government's benchmark.

It was all part of a curious love-hate relationship between the government and teachers' leaders which, in 2008, saw ministers both encouraging schools to embrace greater independence and flexibility whilst brandishing the big stick of targets and threatened takeover by academies.

At least, though, the one-day strike over pay in the spring did not turn into a long-running autumn and winter of discontent. But that was more to do with the effects of the credit crunch than any détente between the DCSF and the NUT.

Leaving age

Meanwhile, in Parliament, the landmark reform was the Education and Skills Act, which became law in November. It raised the education leaving-age for the first time in 30 years, requiring all young people to stay in education or work-based learning until their 18th birthday.

Despite fears that this will mean reluctant 17 year-olds causing mayhem in school classrooms, in reality most of those who will have to stay on will be in further education or apprenticeships.

Not to be outdone by the schools sector, FE had its own administrative scandal as thousands of students were forced to wait months for their education maintenance allowances worth up to £30 a week. Yet another private contractor, Liberata, got the boot after the Prime Minister said it "had not delivered".

By contrast, higher education had a relatively quiet year, as all eyes focused on the last ever Research Assessment Exercise, which reported in December.

Behind the scenes, though, the foundations were being laid for wide-ranging reform of universities. In February, the Universities Secretary, John Denham, announced his intention to develop a 10 to 15 year policy framework for universities and commissioned a raft of reviews into issues such as part-time students and the demographic challenge.

All of this, of course, will feed into the review, due in 2009, of the current cap on student tuition fees.

Finally, 2008 brought a number of farewells to leading players on the education stage.

Lord Adonis was moved from Schools Minister to take up what we were told was a long-held train-spotters' interest in transport. As a former education correspondent, policy wonk at Number 10, architect of the City Academies, and then as minister, he has had more influence than most on education policy over the past decade.

His long innings at the heart of government education policy was only exceeded in recent years by Sir Cyril Taylor, who had been an advisor to successive education secretaries right back to Kenneth Baker in the late 1980s.

However he finally lost the confidence of head teachers and was forced out of his role as chairman of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust.

Finally - and most tragically - we also had to say farewell to Steve Sinnott, the general secretary of the National Union of Teachers whose sudden death just after the union's annual conference in April shocked everyone. He was one of the nicest and most dedicated people in education and remains greatly missed by all who knew him.