How childhood is being 'destroyed' by too many tests

They suffer serious stress and anxiety because they are "tested to destruction" between the ages of four and 18.

Children can face as many as 30 tests during that time, say heads. The ordeal begins at four, when reception pupils are assessed against 117 benchmarks to check their progress.

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Pupils then take exams in almost every year of schooling, ranging from national assessment tests to GCSEs and A-levels.

Even when they are not taking formal exams, they are likely to be taking practice tests or "mock" exams.

The gruelling toll will be spelt out at the National Association of Head Teachers conference in Bournemouth next Saturday.

Tony Roberts, who has recently retired after 22 years as a primary head, says a typical child is likely to sit 30 separate tests before they leave school at 18.

He will claim that the culture is crushing pupils' enjoyment of childhood by preventing schools from offering a broad education.

His intervention comes as secret Government figures show that schools are spending almost half their teaching time in the run up to national tests for 11-year-olds preparing pupils.

For four months every year, primaries spend an average of ten hours a week on test coaching, according to unpublished figures from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.

The figures also show how non-tested subjects, including PE, are being cut back.

Mr Roberts, formerly head of Waltonle-Dale Community Primary in Preston, said: "No head would say testing is not useful, and sometimes it is vital. But this Government has an obsession and our children are the most tested generation in Europe.

"Children are beginning to see themselves as a score - they say "I'm a level three" or "I'm a level four".

"What they lose out on is social skills, the ability to cooperate with other people and work as a team and fulfil themselves as individuals.

"Children may be coming out with a specific knowledge of core subjects but not a lot else - music, PE, history and geography are also important."

Pupils were becoming increasingly "anxious and withdrawn", he said. "I remember once taking a child at seven, a very bright little thing. She came home crying and worrying what would she do if she didn't get a level three in her SATs."

He said some schools had 'bought in' to the testing and league table culture more than others, but called on them all to take a stand against it.

His research uncovers the extraordinary range of tests now undertaken in schools, from "attitude questionnaires" to highstakes formal tests.

Some are statutory while others have been chosen by schools, such as Durham University tests used to help track pupil progress.

At the conference, Mr Roberts will propose a motion calling on the Government to "radically alter its target- obsessed and test- driven agenda" and "allow schools to cherish their children and produce happy and emotionally balanced adults".

Currently they are the "fodder for statistical bean-counting".

Education Secretary Alan Johnson said last year he backed "the whole kit and caboodle" of school accountability, from inspections to tests and league tables. He said he accepted it increased "intensity and stress" but declared:

"It's absolutely the right thing to do."