Teachers lack confidence assessing pupils, poll finds

According to a YouGov Poll, a fifth of teachers do not know where to look for information on assessment.

As reported by Tes, only a third of classroom teachers feel “very confident” when it comes to assessing the work of pupils.

The survey of more than 1,000 teachers also found that the majority of teachers did not receive training in undertaking assessments as part of their initial teacher training.

The findings have been published in a report from education thinktank LKMco and education company Pearson.

Based on a year-long research project, the report states that many teachers and pupils feel that statutory assessments “do not adequately capture pupils’ achievements”, partly because the accountability system “incentivises schools to pick certain qualifications”.

It calls on the Department for Education (DfE) to stop reporting the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) measure in performance tables, to ensure pupils are able to access a wider range of subjects.