Delegates hear accounts of harmful effects of testing on pupils, including woman who blames childhood exams for her alopecia

A national boycott of primary school testing in England moved a step closer after delegates at the National Union of Teachers’ annual conference heard graphic accounts of the harmful effects of testing on pupils and schools.

Delegates debated a string of hostile motions and amendments calling for protests over standardised tests in English and maths – known as Sats in key stage 1 and 2 – for seven- and 11-year-olds, as well as any future assessments imposed by the government.

Teachers' union threatens to boycott 'meaningless' Sats Read more

The moves come despite a recent concession by the education secretary, Justine Greening, opening a consultation on primary school assessment that would scrap key stage 1 tests in return for a baseline assessment for children entering reception classes.



The NUT delegates passed a motion calling for internal ballots of members over a possible boycott of Sats next year. They ended Sunday’s proceedings debating another more aggressive motion calling for a boycott of all “summative testing” in primary schools in 2017-18.

The motion being debated would – if passed – also require the union’s members to “support and promote a parent boycott” of the primary school tests this year, as well as encouraging non-compliance.

The conference in Cardiff heard that pupils were being subjected to stress caused by the exams, and that schools were narrowing down the subjects they taught to those required by the exams.

Jessica Edwards, an NUT executive member, told the conference the current testing regime “is damaging to children, it’s damaging to their education, it’s damaging to their self-esteem, their mental health and all of the things that they need to succeed as they go through education”.

Edwards received rousing applause when she told delegates: “Sats is the head of the monster: let’s decapitate it and get rid of all testing in primary schools.”

Samantha Nicholson-Hickling, a teacher from Oldham, said she knew of a pupil who said she developed alopecia from the stress of sitting tests: “She’s now 22 and has no hair, and attributes that to taking Sats at age 11.

“What is the point of putting our young people through this exam factory, when the only thing it seems to be used for at the moment is for a giant stick to beat us and our schools with.”

One speaker said parents regarded the primary school tests as akin to the evil forces in JRR Tolkien’s books. “They all talked about Sats in the same way that characters in Lord of the Rings talk about Sauron and Mordor, in hushed terrified tones,” said Michael Holland, a teacher from Lambeth. “Let’s throw Sats into the crack of doom,” he told delegates.

The NUT general secretary, Kevin Courtney, said a boycott would be a defensible moral position to “stop this happening to our children, and they would be right to do it”. He said: “I think the conference is going to vote for these motions and then we will be discussing with other unions how to take them forward.”

At its conference this month, the ATL teaching union also backed a possible boycott of all tests at primary level. In 2010, both the NAHT and NUT supported a national boycott of key stage 2 tests, with about a quarter of 11-year-olds missing the tests as a result.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We want a long-term, stable and proportionate system for primary assessment that measures the progress that children make throughout their time at primary school fairly and accurately, one that recognises teachers’ professionalism in assessing their pupils, and which does not impose a disproportionate burden.

“We have worked with the teaching profession on how best to establish this and we are currently consulting on a number of proposals.”

The government faced the possibility of further industrial action after delegates at the NASUWT teachers’ conference taking place simultaneously in Manchester backed possible strike action over teacher workload.

A motion highlighted unsustainable workloads imposed by “dismissive” governments, and called for the union to consult members on holding national strike days, as well as regional strikes and work-to-rule actions.

The move follows recent claims that more than 40% of young teachers were considering leaving the profession because of workload pressures.

“Teachers who are worn out and run down by the excessive demands being placed upon them will not be able to give their best to their students,” said Chris Keates, the general secretary of the NASUWT. “Governments and administrations must commit urgently to the action necessary to bring downward pressure on teachers’ workload and working hours.”