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The latest Statutory Assessment Test results (Sats) have been released and will reveal whether all the coaching and anxiety has paid off for schools and pupils.

Sats have never been far from controversy. Introduced in 1989, the national curriculumaimed to ensure standardised teaching across all government funded schools – and Sats were the assessment of performance against expectation.

The results provide schools with a way of monitoring children’s progress and can be accessed by secondary schools to help set their Year 7 pupils into ability groupings. The data, which is published by the Department for Education, also allows for comparison of schools – which can help parents with school selection.

Read the full article on The Conversation website, written by Julia Badger, Department of Experimental Psychology. 

Oxford is a subscribing member of The ConversationFind out how you can write for The Conversation.