Against the "National Challenge"!/ Abolish SATS
Against the “National Challenge” The National Challenge scheme, launched in June 2008, is supposed to push up school standards. Schools have been threatened with being forced to convert into Academies, and could face the loss of specialist status and the removal of funding. The 638 National Challenge schools were selected on the basis that fewer than 30 per cent of their students have achieved five or more A*-C grade GCSEs, including English and maths. Now, according to the Times Educational Supplement, “300 extra schools can expect to be subject to special scrutiny under an extension of the...