WIREDGOV

New tougher primary school tests in maths & English will further the government’s objective of ensuring nobody leaves school without being able to read or write and with a solid grounding in maths, Education Minister Elizabeth Truss said last week.  Sample questions for the tests taken by 7-year-olds and 11-year-olds - in maths, reading, and grammar, punctuation & spelling - reveal the higher standards expected of children in the 3Rs.

The new tests will come in from 2016, reflecting the greater demands of the rigorous new curriculum, which will be taught from September 2014.  All topics in the curriculum - including the most complex - will be tested in these new assessments, whereas at the moment 11-year-old pupils are only fully stretched if they are also entered for the separate level 6 tests. The complicated system of levels is being scrapped, with pupils given a ‘scaled score’ which shows how they compare to the expected standard for their year.

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