National literacy and numeracy tests for all Scottish pupils

Nicola Sturgeon said primary pupils would be tested three times - when they start school, after four years and before they leave to go to secondary in P7.

The tests, which will be piloted in a number of target schools in 2016, will also be mandatory for pupils in the third year of secondary school.

The First Minister said the test results would be published annually to show where the system needed to improve, raising the possibility of unpopular league tables.

Schools will also be tasked with making year on year improvements leading to concerns teachers will be under pressure to secure better test scores regardless of the academic ability of their pupils.

However, Ms Sturgeon said it was not her intention for test results to be seen as the most important measure of pupil progress under the existing Curriculum for Excellence (CfE).

Announcing her Programme for Government in the Scottish Parliament she said: "These new assessments will introduce greater consistency to CfE. They will provide reliable evidence of a child's performance or progress, but they will not be the sole measurement.

"This is not about narrowing the curriculum or forcing teachers to teach to a test. It is not a return to the national testing of old and the assessments will inform teacher judgment and not replace it.

"They will provide robust and consistent evidence to help teachers judge whether or not a child is achieving the required level of CfE."

Ms Sturgeon said the workload on teachers would also not be increased because the tests would replace those already used by local authorities.

She said that, over time, the new assessments would replace the current Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy, which recently identified a fall in standards leading to the current plans for a new testing regime.

And as The Herald reported, Ms Sturgeon confirmed national assessments would be developed in partnership with teachers, parents and councils.

The move to introduce national tests - scrapped in Scotland in 2003 by the Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition - is highly controversial.

Critics fear the introduction of a single test allowing direct comparison between schools serving different communities undermines the education system because primaries which do not perform as well are automatically seen as "failing", even though they may be doing an outstanding job for their pupils.

There are also fears councils use test results to judge teacher performance rather than pupil progress, which leads to school staff focusing all their efforts on "teaching to the test" to get as many pupils through at the expense of their wider education.

Stephanie Primrose, education spokeswoman for council umbrella body Cosla, warned the move could be damaging.

She said: "The announcement could be an extremely positive step for education or, if we are not careful and despite assurances, could turn the clock back to national testing and, whether intended or not, league tables.

"We share the concerns that if not handled correctly this risks being a retrograde step for Scottish education that heaps more pressure on pupils and teachers and leads to inaccurate and unfair comparisons between schools.

"Most local authorities already carry out some form of standardised testing and what Government is proposing will supplement and not replace existing good local practice."

The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) teaching union said the First Minister's rhetoric on avoiding the pitfalls of national testing was welcome.

Larry Flanagan, the union's general secretary, said: "The Scottish Government’s intention..... would appear to be designed to build on the ethos of CfE rather than undermining it. It is essential..... safeguards are put in place to avoid the misuse of data generated through the proposed assessment changes."