Most primary heads 'negative' about introduction of Reception baseline

Research commissioned by More Than A Score has found that most primary school heads are overwhelmingly against bringing in the test for four-year-olds, calling it 'totally unnecessary' and 'one of the most poorly conceived ideas I have experienced in my 30+ years of teaching'.

A national pilot of the Reception Baseline Assessment starts in thousands of primary schools this term.

The campaign group commissioned Dr Alice Bradbury from the UCL Institute of Education at University College London to carry out research into headteachers' views on primary assessment.

Although it was intended to focus primarily on Key Stage 2 SATs, the research has produced a wealth of data which reveals headteachers’ broader concerns with an assessment system that is growing rather than shrinking. Some of this data relates to the new Reception Baseline Assessment, which will be introduced to schools in 2020/21, following the pilot.

The findings are based on 288 survey responses on primary assessment and 20 in-depth interviews with primary school headteachers and executive headteachers, carried out by Dr Bradbury. The full report will be published later this month.

As part of the research, headteachers were asked what their views were on the return of Baseline and about its use in assessing progress.

The majority of comments from the survey and from in-depth interviews with heads were negative about Baseline. The main criticisms were that it is unnecessary, inaccurate, unfair on children, and another way of placing schools under pressure.