Can you refuse SATS

[Zizi444]

Can you refuse to allow your child to sit SATS? What would happen if they were off on that day?

In my opinion they are a pointless waste of time are purley for the schools benefit. They serve no purpose for the kids other than to stress them out. My eldest never did them due to covid and I'd prefer my youngest not to do them but I'm not sure if this is an option.
Thanks

I don’t like SATs but if you have chosen a school based on results or ofsted grades, even partially, you are very hypocritical to then withdraw your child from the very tests that lead to those outcomes.

@JustSawJohnny the previous year's were widely recognised as being much harder than expected! Maybe your child's year was expecting the worst!

Primaries were hoping for a longer period of post-covid grace re SATs but it had to return to normal at some point and that was the year. The only knowledge our kids had of the previous year's SATs was what last year 6's told them, which was that they get breakfast beforehand and a treat at the end of the week!

I guess my impression of SATs as a parent are skewed by my child doing the 11+, which is way harder, and a general nonchalance to them in secondary teaching. We used them, together with teacher grades, for streaming but in core subjects, as is the case in most secondaries, the kids were tested again in the first few weeks of Autumn term so we knew where the kids were and identified any weaker areas to cover.

I just don't see them as so bad that they need to be avoided, really.

@crumblingschoolsProgress 8 matters for secondaries, but they still don’t care about kids getting high SATs grades - if kids score low on SATs and high at GCSE, their P8 score is better anyway!