Maplim news blog. Government says proposed Sats boycott 'unlawful' The government has declared a proposed boycott of next year's Sats "unlawful" raising the question of a legal challenge if the National Union of Teachers backs the plans at its annual conference in Cardiff tomorrow.
The move escalates tensions between the government and teaching unions. The National Association of Head Teachers will vote on the same proposals next month. A spokesman for the Department for Children Schools and Families said the boycott would be "irresponsible, unlawful, and out of touch with what parents want".
Government lawyers had concluded that headteachers have a statutory duty to administer the tests, he said. The unions are threatening to bring the system of testing every year-old in England to a halt next year unless ministers have instigated reforms to the system. The unions say that Sats β and the league tables of results β force schools to teach to the test, narrowing learning and putting teachers and pupils under extreme pressure. But ministers insist that tests at the end of primary school are critical to assessing pupils' progress and holding schools to account.
The NUT today insisted a boycott would be legal. Graham Clayton, a senior solicitor for the union, said: "If there was any serious question about the lawfulness we wouldn't be doing it. The motion to be debated tomorrow instructs union officials to campaign for the removal of the tests. A separate motion, also due for debate tomorrow, condemns Sats as "unreliable" after studies suggested up to half of English papers taken by year-olds may have been wrongly marked.
The schools secretary, Ed Balls, has said the system is "not set in stone" and ordered a review of alternatives. But he has insisted that some testing at the end of primary school will remain. He has attacked the boycott proposals as "irresponsible" behaviour by teachers. Although there is no suggestion that Microsoft's failed bid will be resurrected, the two companies are believed to be discussing ways they can link up to combat the growing power of their chief rival, Google.
