What is the point of KS1 SATs?

[numbum]

I was in the staff room today (I'm not a paid member of staff) grabbing a cup of coffee when I heard a year 2 teacher say 'well if you take X for example, he scored a level 2b on his comprehension but I'm going to level him as a 1a because that's what his real level is'.

So, what exactly is the point of testing 7 year olds when the test mark is irrelevant and, if I'm right, the teacher assessment is the final result given?

SATS and any other tests are used to inform a teacher's judgement. That's the point of them.

Testing doesn't work for all children, so we have to use a range of assessment methods (including day to day).

The child you mentioned might have fluked it. Some questions are multiple choice, so it's possible to get them right with no understanding.

More to the point, if the child is really a 1a, it's absolutely no use to next year's teacher to be told 2b. Likewise, teaching to the test (which I've discovered some teachers in my school have been doing) doesn't help either. It just makes life harder for the next teacher.

Thanks! It was a genuine question and, because I'd overheard the conversation, I couldn't really ask the teacher