HAVE you ever met a teacher who likes SAT exams?

I'd be surprised if you have, as the controversial tests are universally despised by teachers, schools, pupils and parents – yet still the government persists with them.

Yes, there has to be a way to measure a child's progress at primary school and judge their ability, before they head up to secondary, but their teachers do that in separate assessments carried out throughout year six.

New figures show that 39 per cent of schoolchildren in Worcestershire failed to pass all of their SATs, but that figure does not accurately reflect how many kids are ready for secondary, because many who failed a test will have done so simply because the pressure of an exam is too much for a lot of 11-year-olds.

So it's time to scrap the SATs. Let teachers – who have spent all year and sometimes longer with a child – be the ones to judge the ability of their pupils throughout year six.

Yes, children do need to get used to the pressure of exams ahead of their GCSEs, but there's plenty of time for that at secondary school.