Policy Hub
On 2 November 2007, University of Cambridge Primary Review published three further interim reports. Commissioned from academic specialists and grounded in some 240 sources of published evidence, both official and independent, the reports raise important questions about standards of pupil achievement in English primary schools over recent years, about how English primary pupils compare with those from other countries, and about the national and international tests on which evidence about standards has been based.
In positive vein the evidence shows: the stability of English primary education over time; primary pupils’ positive attitudes towards their learning; improvements in primary mathematics standards during recent years, especially since 1995; and high standards in primary reading and science compared with many other
countries.
Less positively, the evidence shows: gains in reading skills at the expense of pupils’ enjoyment of reading; increases in test-induced stress among pupils; a narrowing of the primary curriculum in response to the perceived pressure of testing; the limited impact of the national strategies on both reading standards and the quality of classroom discourse on which higher-order learning depends; and the persistence of a much bigger gap between high and low attaining pupils than in many other countries.
The reports propose major changes to policy and practice in the areas of assessment and monitoring.
The reports are:
Primary Review: 3 interim reports