Sats ‘devastating’ for Send pupils, Motherland star and parent campaigners say

Motherland star Anna Maxwell Martin and a group of parents are warning that primary school tests have “devastating effects” for children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send).

Along with 22 parent groups and campaigners, Maxwell Martin, who has spoken previously about navigating the Send system as a parent, is calling on the Education Secretary to reconsider reforming primary Sats.

They are delivering an open letter to Bridget Phillipson on Tuesday which says the current Sats system “actively harms” children with Send, leaving them often disengaged from school as they move on to secondary.

Maxwell Martin said: “The Government needs to look much harder at how to make things better for children in schools, particularly children with Send.”

She called for a more inclusive approach that recognised children’s mental health and individual needs.

“This is a systemic failing within our assessment system, not the fault of any individual teacher or headteacher,” she said.

In 2025, some 24% of children with Send passed their Sats by meeting the expected standards in reading, writing and maths.

The large proportion of children with Send who failed Sats “spend their entire year 6 convinced they are not clever enough”, the open letter stated.

“They feel they don’t belong. They try harder every day, but the odds are so stacked against them that the weight of it all eventually breaks them,” it said.

The Government said last week, in its response to the curriculum review, that it had “no plans to radically change the shape” of primary tests.

It would make some changes to how writing was assessed, and grammar and punctuation. There would be more support for children with Send to access phonics in year 1 to improve their reading, but only minor amendments were suggested to year 6 Sats.

The letter signatories said the current Sats system narrowed the curriculum and encouraged teaching to the test.

Polling of 520 Send parents whose children did not reach the expected standard in Sats by Omnisis for campaign group More Than A Score found two-thirds (67%) said Sats results negatively impacted their child wanting to go to school.

Half also said their child’s self-esteem was damaged, and that they believed Sats would have a lasting negative impact.

“Forcing children into a system that actively harms them is not the answer. Changing the system so that our children want to attend is,” the letter said.

“The run-up to secondary school is already a vulnerable time. Just when we want to work with schools to build confidence, Sats dismantle it—leaving self-esteem and nervous systems in tatters.

“Too many children leave primary school disengaged from learning, carrying only a badge of failure for all their efforts.”

The Government had been expected to set out its reforms to the Send system this autumn as part of the Schools White Paper.

But Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson announced recently that this would be delayed until 2026 to allow more time to test reform proposals with families as well as teachers and experts.

Send parent Kirsti Hadley, from consultancy and campaign group Generation Alphabet, said: “Ahead of the Schools White Paper, Bridget Phillipson has said she wants to listen to parents, especially parents of children with Send.

“So, we are saying loud and clear: think again about Sats. Forcing children into a system that actively harms them is not the answer. Changing the system so that our children want to attend school is.”

Sarah Hannafin, head of policy at school leaders’ union NAHT, said there is an “urgent need” for the Government to rethink the value of Sats.

“If statutory tests are here to stay, they must be designed to be accessible for the vast majority of pupils, they should recognise the attainment and progress of all children, and they should not damage children’s confidence or cause distress,” she added.