A survey by the National Union of Teachers (NUT) found support was strongest for a ballot to boycott Key Stage 1 tests at 82.5 per cent, with 71.4 per cent wanting a ballot to boycott Key Stage 2 and 64 per cent Key Stage 3.
Doug McAvoy, NUT general secretary, denied that the union was planning strikes, but urged the Government 'to agree to a review of the tests of the same order that has been put in place in Wales and Scotland', and said that it should look at alternative forms of assessment to 'its own discredited testing regime'.
He added, 'The Government is adopting a blinkered view in refusing to consider any arrangements which would monitor pupil progress, influence teacher judgements and inform parents.'
The survey of 30,500 teachers in England and Wales, analysed on behalf of the NUT by Dr Sean Neill of Warwick University, found that three out of five teachers believed SATs interfered with their professional judgement.
Only 6 per cent of the teachers surveyed regarded SATs as a reliable method of evaluating pupil achievement, while more than 75 per cent said they hindered efforts to diagnose pupils' learning needs, and two-thirds said that SATs were unreliable.
The survey also found 87.8 per cent of primary teachers believed teacher assessment to be a viable alternative to testing, compared with 78.9 per of secondary teachers. The NUT's national executive will consider the survey results when it meets in early November.
Mr McAvoy said the Government would be 'hard put' to find a teacher who thought SATs 'are beneficial, improve achievement or promote a broad and balanced education for our children'. Rather, he added, the tests 'narrow education, limit use of professional judgement, place unnecessary stress on pupils and add significantly to the workload of teachers without producing any benefits'.
But education secretary Charles Clarke said it would be 'an absolute betrayal' for teachers to boycott SATs and insisted that 'national testing is here to stay'.
He added, 'We have listened and acted on sensible concerns about testing for children aged seven. But we are not going back to the bad old days when no-one knew what went on in the classroom.'
