Michael Gove has announced an English grammar, spelling and punctuation test for eleven-year-olds. He claims this will raise standards in writing, saying: “I believe that we can only overcome the corrosive culture of low expectations which still persists in too many of our schools by setting a higher bar, with harder exams for all students.”UKLA argues that the test is more likely to drive standards down, than raise them. Being asked to underline subordinate clauses, turn sentences from active to passive and correct artificially contrived errors in such bizarre invented sentences as “The children are going to a shopping centre tomorrow and they had bought some new toys” will not show whether children avoid error in their own writing, much less whether they write effectively.Download the UKLA press release and statement for more information.
