The National Union of Teachers has signed the open letter opposing the plan, alongside Early Education, TACTYC, the Save Childhood Movement, and Professor Cathy Nutbrown, among others.
The campaigners want an urgent re-think on the issue from ministers and all other political parties.
The check is being introduced as a schools’ accountability measure to provide a score for each pupil at the start of Reception.
The NUT is set to debate the issue at its Easter conference.
The letter’s signatories are ‘deeply concerned’ about the check, which will be taken by four-year-olds starting in their first six weeks of Reception.
The experts claim the baseline is ‘unreliable, disruptive, statistically invalid and harmful to child well-being’.
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