With this year’s SATs results published today, the findings of
the largest poll of primary school practitioners ever undertaken
gives a ringing endorsement of the National Education Union’s
(NEU) campaign to end damaging high-stakes tests in primary
schools. It also sends a clear message to Government that the
current assessment system must change.
Over 54,000 NEU primary members took the time to tell us what
they think of high-stakes tests in schools. It was the
biggest-ever indicative ballot of primary members and a massive
97% of those polled said they support our campaign against SATs.*
The results are now being analysed and the union’s National
Executive will discuss them on Saturday 13 July before deciding
the next steps in the campaign to change the current assessment
regime.
Commenting on the result of the indicative
ballot, Kevin Courtney, Joint
General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:
“The NEU’s indicative ballot of primary school members shows
there is resounding support for a change to primary assessment.
Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party all have major
concerns about our SATs-dominated system and have pledged to
change it.
“Government now needs to listen, and to accept the need to change
a culture in which too many classrooms are dominated by teaching
to the test, at the expense of the learning and wellbeing of our
children.”
ENDS
Editor’s Note
The indicative ballot by the National Education Union was
conducted from 4 June to 2 July 2019.
Number of papers issued: 141,107
Total papers returned: 54,591 (39%)
An indicative ballot is a way for the union to understand what
members think about an issue and if they feel strongly enough to
take industrial action. The NEU rulebook stipulates that the
union must undertake an indicative ballot before progressing to
an industrial action ballot.
An indicative ballot is not a statutory ballot and therefore is
not bound by any legal process. It does not, therefore, need to
meet the legal ballot thresholds for formal ballots (50% of all
members to vote and 40% of all members to vote yes) to take legal
action.
