59% of primary NEU members voting in ballot supported tests boycott but turnout did not meet Government imposed threshold

From Mary Bousted & Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretaries of the National Education Union have sent this message to NEU members in primary schools

The union’s executive met on Saturday, 13 July and looked at the results of our indicative ballot of over 50,000 primary members.

Our members resoundingly told us that they want to high stakes tests replaced by better alternatives inour primary schools. 

It was the biggest survey of primary educators for decades, with 50,000 voting by 97 per cent that they want high stakes tests to end.

While the results showed members are not yet ready to engage in a national boycott, they made it absolutely clear they want the union to continue our campaign for an alternative. 

Although 39 per cent of members voted and 59 per cent of those supported calls to boycott, this wasn’t enough to reach the Government’s imposed double thresholds for industrial action in schools. 

To reach those, 50 per cent of all members would have to cast a vote and 40 per cent of all members would need to vote yes.

The union will continue our campaign to secure changes to the way we assess our youngest children,and engage with politicians of all parties in Parliament and local councils on this issue.

We will also continue to work with Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens – all of whom agree with us that high-stakes testing must stop – on their assessment policy proposals. 

We’d like to thank you for taking part in the biggest-ever survey of primary practitioners on this issue and will keep you posted on the next steps in our campaign to stop these toxic tests. 

The union is backing a petition against reception baseline assessment, which is being piloted in some schools from September.

Help us to keep up the pressure by signing and sharing the More Than A Score petition against baseline and visit our website to find out more about our assessment campaign.

Thank you for your continued support for our union and everything you do for the children in your schools and colleges.

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