Britain's new education secretary opposed spelling tests for primary school teachers and urged teachers to encourage creativity in their pupils instead. Lucy Powell, who was promoted to the role after Andy Burnham became prime minister, slammed the tests when she was a Labour backbencher.
Comments resurface after promotion
In comments that have resurfaced since she took control of the education brief, she also criticised that kids could risk failing certain GCSEs if they made spelling mistakes. The comments, made in 2019, have garnered new attention after she posted online announcing her new promotion yesterday - only for the Conservatives to point out it was riddled with errors.
It has now transpired that she once branded spelling tests "draconian", and suggested the tests were used to "micro-manage" teachers. Her own post online attracted comments from her Tory rivals who reposted it with annotations which highlighted a mistake in the first line.
Criticism of Spag tests
Now it has been revealed that the new education boss criticised mandatory spelling tests at primary school level in an interview with Tes seven years ago. She had specifically targeted the spelling, punctuation and grammar (Spag) tests rolled out by the Tories in 2013, a system still mandatory in the education system she now runs.
"With testing and the data-driven approach, the pendulum starts to swing too far the other way," she told Tes. "Whereas in the past there was concern that you might have been able [to] do whatever you want, teach whatever you want, that has been addressed. But now it's gone too far with ridiculous Spag tests in primary schools or pupils failing exams if they spell a couple of things wrong."
The new education chief said in that interview that the tests took the "joy" out of education, adding: "It's becoming overprescribed and micro-managed. And that is the same for teachers as well. Some of the joy has gone out."
