Children left in tears from stress of SATs as teachers and parents condemn them as ‘hardest ever’

Six year olds have been left in tears 'thinking they're stupid' after being forced to sit the 'hardest ever' SATs.

On the forums of the Times Education Supplement teachers vented their anger at the difficulty of the questions. One teacher said: 'That was, without doubt, the hardest reading test I've ever seen. Unbelievable. I'm so angry right now.'

'That has completely demoralised a number of children in my class. It wasn't even like the sample paper they released. Much harder.'

Another added: 'The texts weren't so bad but the questions and the wording of them (vocabulary etc) was like something I have never seen before.'

Before adding, 'I'm staggered.'

And it wasn't only teachers who had something to say about the levels expected of young children sitting the exams. Parents, too, were riled up enough to take their opinions to public forums and express themselves on social media.

Mum Katie K revealed, 'My daughter said the children in her class sat their Sats today, some were crying, shaking, terrified, the gov needs to rethink'.

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While Conservative Borough Councillor Sandra Squire said, 'Ever seen a 6yr old in tears as they think they're stupid as they can't pass a test? When you have come back & tell me sats are important.' [twitter]

This news comes just a week after thousands of Year 2 children, ages six and seven, were withdrawn from school by their parents who were protesting the SATs and their place in the education curriculum.

The SATs tests this year were deliberately made harder since 80% of students last year met the level set. Teachers, however, have revealed that they think it's too hard, with one saying, 'If ever a test was set up to prepare children to fail, this was it.'

A Department for Education spokesman refuted the claims that the tests were too hard as they told the Times Education Supplement that: 'The 2016 reading test was developed in the same way as the sample test.

'Trialling of the 2016 test showed that the difficulty of the paper was broadly similar.

'These tests should not be a cause of stress for pupils - they help teachers make sure children are learning to read, write and add up well.

'The truth is if they don't master literacy and numeracy early on, they risk being held behind and struggling for the rest of their lives - we are determined to prevent this by helping every child reach their full potential.'

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