SOUTH Dorset Jim Knight has defended himself in a row over the ‘sexing up’ of a school tests fiasco inquiry.
Schools Minister Mr Knight and Schools Secretary Ed Balls denied claims that they misled an investigation into marking delays for Standardised Assessment Tests (SATs).
They told the House of Commons that their evidence to an inquiry held by Lord Sutherland into the delay was accurate.
They batted away accusations that it had been ‘sexed-up’.
The marking row broke out after the result of last year’s national tests for 11 and 14-year-olds were delayed by over a month for 1.2million children.
Ken Boston, the former head of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), resigned after the inquiry into what went wrong.
But he has now accused ministers of ‘sexing up’ their evidence to portray him as ‘complacent and disengaged’.
Dr Boston denied that ministers had ‘pressed’ him for answers about when the tests would be marked and delivered.
Mr Balls told the Commons that all the information supplied was ‘accurate and where any mistakes are made they are always corrected as quickly as possible’.
He added: “Ministers regularly pressed Ken Boston and the QCA, it was only at the end of June that the problems arose.
“Lord Sutherland’s review concluded that the QCA and ETS were at fault. I utterly support Lord Sutherland’s conclusion.”
Dr Boston also claimed that the ministers gave incorrect evidence about holding key meetings with him last summer about the marking fiasco.
Mr Knight admitted that Dr Boston had not been at the meeting where he claimed he had been present and said that: “I recollected his presence wrongly.”
Dr Boston told a cross-party committee of MPs last week: “The Sutherland report is wrong. It reported that I advised ministers to extend the date of the test results. I did not.”
He added that evidence against him was being ‘sexed up’ in the report by Lord Sutherland.
* EARLIER this week headteachers in Dorset called for ‘outdated’ SATs to be scrapped.
The majority of heads contacted by the Dorset Echo wanted the exams axed.
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