An influential panel of MPs has said that the English national system of school tests is being misued to the detriment of children's education.
The report by the House of Commons Schools, Children and Families Select Committee comes in the same week that hundreds of thousands of eleven-year-olds are sitting their Key Stage 3 SATs exams.
It says that teachers spend too much time "teaching to the test".
"The inappropriate use of national testing could lead to damaging consequences," warns the report.
Barry Sheerman, chair of the committee, said that: "In an effort to drive up national standards, too much emphasis has been placed on a single set of tests and this has been to the detriment of some aspects of the curriculum and some students."
The committee broadly supported the idea of national tests but voiced concerns that there was over-emphasis on their results.
Schools Minister Jim Knight defended the use of national tests as part of the process of assessing progress for pupils, schools and the education system.
"Along with teachers' own judgements and Ofsted reports, tests are a tool which help pupils and their parents to understand how well they are doing, help parents and teachers to understand how well their school is doing, and help the public to scrutinise the performance of the schools system.
"That's why they are here to stay. Parents don't want to go back to a world where the achievements of schools are hidden from them."
The National Union of Teachers and NASUWT have both voiced their opposition to National Curriculum tests.
The report by the House of Commons Schools, Children and Families Select Committee comes in the same week that hundreds of thousands of eleven-year-olds are sitting their Key Stage 3 SATs exams.
It says that teachers spend too much time "teaching to the test".
"The inappropriate use of national testing could lead to damaging consequences," warns the report.
Barry Sheerman, chair of the committee, said that: "In an effort to drive up national standards, too much emphasis has been placed on a single set of tests and this has been to the detriment of some aspects of the curriculum and some students."
The committee broadly supported the idea of national tests but voiced concerns that there was over-emphasis on their results.
Schools Minister Jim Knight defended the use of national tests as part of the process of assessing progress for pupils, schools and the education system.
"Along with teachers' own judgements and Ofsted reports, tests are a tool which help pupils and their parents to understand how well they are doing, help parents and teachers to understand how well their school is doing, and help the public to scrutinise the performance of the schools system.
"That's why they are here to stay. Parents don't want to go back to a world where the achievements of schools are hidden from them."
The National Union of Teachers and NASUWT have both voiced their opposition to National Curriculum tests.
