7/5/2008 9:52:00 AM
The Guardian 5 July
Thousands of schoolchildren may have to wait until the autumn for key test results after a company brought in to administer the tests failed to deliver on time. The schools secretary, Ed Balls, has been forced to delay the publication of test results for 1.2 million pupils and set up an urgent independent inquiry to document the errors which have disrupted the marking of national Sats tests for 11- and 14-year-olds. Results had been expected at schools by Tuesday. Most will now be a week late, but ministers last night admitted some pupils will not get their marks until after the summer holidays. The delay will be embarrassing to the government which weeks ago had promised the results would be in on time. It also raises questions about the publication of this year's league tables in August, which ministers have refused to drop in the face of widespread opposition from schools. Test markers have complained of late delivery of scripts, badly organised training days and jammed helplines. Markers are being drafted in to emergency marking centres in Leeds and Manchester this weekend. Questions about the quality of the marking have also been raised after ETS Europe, the company delivering the tests for the first time this year, altered crucial elements of the system.Guardian
Curriculum / Quality Assurance
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