The warning has been sent by school leaders who are alarmed at Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw’s call last week for the return of SATs at age 14.
Key stage 3 SATs were scrapped in 2008, but in his monthly commentary, Sir Michael said that he believes this decision was a mistake.
Ofsted has previously reported that thousands of pupils who achieve well at primary school fail to reach their “full potential” at secondary level – especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
In his commentary, Sir Michael said that this was often down to poor transition arrangements, which left gifted pupils “treading water in their first few years of secondary”. He also blames low expectations and insufficient checks to ensure teaching stretches the most able in mixed ability classrooms.
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