Oral Answers to Questions — Children, Schools and Families – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 30 November 2009.
Desmond Swayne
Parliamentary Private Secretary To the Leader of the Opposition
2:30,
30 November 2009
What plans he has for the future of national curriculum testing; and if he will make a statement.
Edward Balls
Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families
Following the report of the expert group on assessment on the future of national curriculum tests, which advised that objective tests at the end of key stage 2 were educationally beneficial and vital for public accountability, I have recently approved the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency's award of the main contract for delivering the 2010 tests to Edexcel.
Desmond Swayne
Parliamentary Private Secretary To the Leader of the Opposition
The National Association of Head Teachers says that the results-up to a quarter of them-are inaccurate to the extent of being one whole level out. If that is incorrect, will the Secretary of State tell us how he knows it is incorrect?
Edward Balls
Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families
As the hon. Gentleman may or may not know, we have established an independent regulator, Ofqual, which oversees and regulates the marking process and also deals with the appeals process. Because of the difficulties of the tests, there were more appeals than in the year before last and last year, but there is no evidence that the quality of the marking has deteriorated. I would be happy to set out more detail for the hon. Gentleman if he would like.
Fiona Mactaggart
Labour, Slough
I have the impression that the reason why Slough's key stage 2 results this year were not as good as they were in other parts of the education system is that we are still a small town that has the 11-plus. Will the Secretary of State please look at areas that retain the 11-plus and see whether the results at key stage 2 are different from those that would normally be expected?
Edward Balls
Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families
I would be happy to look at that for my hon. Friend. As she will know, the issue of selection is a matter for local authorities to decide, although Labour Members are clear that we do not want to see an increase in the number of grammar schools-a pledge that Conservative Members continually refuse to make. We have looked at the selective authorities of Gloucestershire and Kent to see whether there are particular issues to do with the interaction of selection and the national challenge programme, but on the issue of key stage 2 tests, we need to look more carefully at the details. I cannot give my hon. Friend an answer today, but I can definitely tell her that we will not be having any more grammar schools.
Nick Gibb
Shadow Minister (Education) (Schools)
The Secretary of State will be aware that a third of those who fail to achieve the expected level in the three R's in the key stage 2 tests are children who qualify for free school meals. Does he therefore support a policy of replacing the key stage 1 standard assessment test with a simple screening test at the end of the second year of primary school to ensure that every child knows how to sound out words and is able to read a list of basic words? Is that not the best way of closing the achievement gap between the haves and the have-nots in our schools and in our society?
Edward Balls
Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families
That question goes to the heart of the debate-and to the heart of the confusion among the Opposition-on education policy. The fact is that there are 100,000 more young people now making the grade at age 11 compared with 10 years ago, but it is not possible consistently to say that every child should do a test in key stage 1 and learn phonics while at the same time having it as a policy that all schools should opt out of the national curriculum by becoming primary school academies. The hon. Gentleman's desire for phonics teaching is completely undermined by the policy of his hon. Friend Michael Gove to abolish the requirement for phonics in the national curriculum. That would be the wrong thing to do-
John Bercow
Chair, Members Estimate Committee, Chair, Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, Speaker of the House of Commons, Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, Speaker of the House of Commons, Chair, Members Estimate Committee, Chair, Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission
Order. I have been very generous to the Secretary of State today in allowing him to develop his arguments, but he will know that he must focus his answers on the policy of the Government rather than that of the Opposition.
John Bercow
Chair, Members Estimate Committee, Chair, Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, Speaker of the House of Commons, Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, Speaker of the House of Commons, Chair, Members Estimate Committee, Chair, Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission
No, the right hon. Gentleman has already done extremely well.
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