Primary 1 Tests

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 19 September 2018.

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Photo of Jenny Gilruth Jenny Gilruth Scottish National Party

It is just like being back in the classroom this afternoon.

Today’s motion states:

“good-quality pupil assessment is an essential component of the drive to raise educational standards in Scotland’s schools”.

I begin with a note of consensus, because the exhausting stalemate of political debate that surrounds Scottish education needs it. Teachers deserve it, and it is imperative for our pupils that every political party focuses on the practicalities of closing the poverty-related attainment gap.

Perhaps Professor Lindsay Paterson put it best last week, when he said:

“The simple fact—unpalatable for many politicians and teaching unions—is that education can’t do without tests ... Only reliable data from scientifically standardised tests can enable us to learn from both the failures and the successes.”

Assessments—call it what you will—are not new. In the senior phase of our curriculum, we expect pupils to be ready to sit final examinations at national 5, higher and advanced higher levels.