Primary school children lose marks in Sats tests for misshapen commas

A row has broken out over the marking of this year’s primary school tests after teachers complained that their pupils had been unfairly marked down for the shape and size of their semi-colons and commas.

Children were asked to insert punctuation in a pre-written sentence and, despite getting the answer correct, failed to get a mark because their commas were not curved the right way or their semi-colon was too large or not in precisely the right place, teachers have claimed.

Using the hashtag #SATsshambles, teachers posted a litany of apparent inconsistencies in marking of key stage 2 Sats tests for 10 and 11-year-olds and urged all schools to go through their pupils’ marked papers in detail to check for further errors.

One of the questions that caused most outcry in the spelling, punctuation and grammar (Spag) tests asked pupils to insert a pair of commas in the correct place in the following sentence: “Jenna a very gifted singer won the talent competition that was held in the local theatre.” But many who correctly put the commas around “a very gifted singer” failed to get a mark, to the bafflement of their teachers.

Another question asked pupils to insert a semi-colon into the right place in the sentence: “Come and see me tomorrow I will not have time to see you today.” Again many pupils appeared to have got it correct, placing the semi-colon between “tomorrow” and “I”, but scored zero while their peers got a mark for the same answer.

Primary teacher Liz Hindley, who tweets as @Leaping_liz, posted pictures of four answers all featuring the semi-colon in the correct place, but two were given a mark and two were not. “The lack of consistency is so frustrating,” she commented. Writer and poet Michael Rosen tweeted: “The punctuation police demand that the mark has to be drawn correctly and at the right angle #TheyAreHooligans”.

Teachers’ leaders criticised the marking for being inconsistent and pedantic, complaining that children were being marked down on a tiny technicality when it was clear that the pupil knew the correct answer to the question.

Kevin Courtney, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, tweeted an image of marking guidance on the semi-colon question, which included such strict and detailed instructions that one teacher described it as “beyond parody”.

“The comma element of the semi-colon inserted should be correct in relation to the point of origin, height, depth and orientation,” the guidance read.

“Where the separation of the semi-colon is excessive, neither element of the semi-colon should start higher than the letter ‘I’. The dot of the semi-colon must not be lower than the letter ‘w’ in the word ‘tomorrow’.”

It went on: “The orientation of the comma element of the semi-colon must be inclined to the left or straight down. It cannot incline to the right.” Courtney commented: “Marking advice for a 1 mark question in 11 yr olds SATs. You can know where to put a semi colon - but not get a mark.”

Pearson, which administers the tests for the Department for Education, confirmed that the marking guidance was genuine and said it was part of a wider suite of training materials for markers. A spokesman for the Department for Education said that schools can apply for a review of contested marks.

Russell Hobby, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), commented: “We now operate within a testing culture which appears focused on catching young children out rather than recording their achievements.

“Such a culture will swiftly erode the confidence of parents and teachers that the system is operating in the best interests of pupils. The stakes are so high that we seem unable to apply reasonable common sense.”

James Bowen, director of NAHT Edge, which represents middle leaders in schools, added: “The general mood is that where children have quite clearly demonstrated they know what the correct answer and appropriate punctuation is, they should be awarded the mark.

“Markers having to fret about the angle of the line in a piece of punctuation or the exact space between a word and the piece of punctuation show that we have lost a sense of perspective when it comes to these tests and questions the very purpose of a Spag test in the first place. “

Pearson issued a statement saying: “Marking quality is extremely important and is something we monitor continuously. In the unusual circumstance that there is an error, there is a review process in place which ensures a fair and transparent system and enables Pearson to correct any discrepancies and ensure pupils receive a fair mark.”

Brian Walton, head teacher at Brookside Community Primary School, in Street, Somerset, who tweets as @Oldprimaryhead1, arrived at work on Monday morning after blogging about his frustration with Sats to find almost 5,000 notificiations on his Twitter account from teachers frustrated with this year’s marking.

As well as the punctuation issues, he said there was concern about children being marked down on the placing of the letter “p” and the style of the letter “k” and other inconsistencies. “It’s a real shambles,” he said. “Children who technically understand, are getting caught out for pernickety little issues that don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. And this is such high stakes in schools.”

Last week, results were published for this year’s Sats tests which revealed a significant rise in attainment on last summer, which was the first year of the new, more rigorous assessment. According to raw national data, 61% of pupils met the required target in reading, writing, mathematics and grammar compared with 53% last year.