A new system of tests intended to replace Sats in state schools has suffered serious problems, it was reported today.

Secondary school pupils consistently scored lower marks than primary school children up to five years younger in the same maths tests under the proposed system, according to The Guardian.

Leaked reports were said to be critical of the pilot of the SLT scheme which is supposed to allow pupils to take tests at their own pace, instead of all together at the ages of 11 and 14.

Pilot tests involving 100,000 children over 18 months gave unpredictable results, with 10-year-olds regularly outperforming 14-year-olds.

The reports, by the National Assessment Agency, also said the pilot programme had been rushed in too quickly under political pressure and its aim of assessing pupils regardless of age across a broad curriculum were "very probably impossible" to achieve.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said: "We have always said the assessment system is not set in stone and we are committed to continuing -and learning from -these trials."

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