HC Deb 15 December 1992 vol 216 c289
12. Mrs. Roche

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has for further consultation on national curriculum tests for seven-year-olds.

Mr. Forth

We shall consult in the spring, as usual, on the next assessment order governing tests and assessments for seven-year-olds in 1994.

Mrs. Roche

Will the Minister consult the Secretary of State for Scotland, given that the Scottish Office has recently announced a system of testing which is based much more heavily on teacher assessment? If that system, which is overwhelmingly supported by parent-teacher associations, is good enough for children in Scotland, why is it not good enough or appropriate for children in England and Wales?

Mr. Forth

I would he the last person to deny the validity of the adoption of different approaches, where appropriate, in Scottish, English, Welsh and Northern Irish education. One of the great glories of the United Kingdom is that we can take different approaches to these matters when we think it appropriate. The timing of the tests in England is dictated by the Education Reform Act 1988. Scottish Office colleagues have taken the view that, although the principle of testing is accepted, the timing may be more appropriately judged by those involved in schools. I believe that that is right for my colleagues north of the border.

Miss Emma Nicholson

Does the Minister agree that most seven-year-olds very much enjoy doing their assessment tests? Will he congratulate the primary school teachers who have made the national curriculum work so effectively in particular, my constituent Anthony Wates, headteacher of Tavistock primary school, who is on the National Curriculum Council?

Mr. Forth

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making that important point. We must not forget that if the tests are properly applied and if the pupils are given proper leadership and inspiration by teachers, young pupils of all ages enjoy taking the tests and find them useful and stimulating. In some of the pilot tests carried out last year, it was found that in many schools attendance on the day of the tests was higher than normal. That is ample and eloquent testimony to my hon. Friend's point.