TEACHERS and parents have renewed calls for SATs tests to be scrapped after this year’s results were released.

The percentage of pupils in Dorset hitting the benchmark level four grade in English was one per cent higher than the national average at 82 per cent, while scores for maths were the same as the national average of 80 per cent.

Students also out-performed the national average when it came to reading and writing with 87 and 73 per cent reaching level four in the respective categories.

The Scholastic Assessment Tests (SATs) caused controversy this year after eleven schools from Weymouth, Portland and Dorchester did not sit the exams for 10 to 11 year olds in May.

Parents Outloud activist Margaret Morrissey, of Dorchester, said: “The SATS should have been abolished when the SATs for seven year olds were abolished.

“They prove that SATs were for nothing and no other reason than government propaganda.

“The tests are costly and extremely stressful for children and Michael Gove himself has said they need to be reviewed.

“Parents, teachers and Parents Outloud are saying don’t review them just remove them.”

Mrs Morrissey said that the tests put children under a lot of pressure and do not give an accurate overall idea of the value of a school.

Secretary for the Dorset Division of the NUT, Geoff Cook, of Weymouth, said that the SATs results for this year were now ‘statistically flawed’ as they were not representative of the entire county as eleven schools results will be missing.

He said: “We’re quite pleased the fact that the league tables are now very questionable as far as the union is concerned.

“It’s real progress because we’re gradually wearing down the validity of the league table approach.”

He added: “The coalition government is determined to push ahead with SATs in the future but we will hopefully be looking to get more schools on board early next term.

“Hopefully as many as 45 to 50 per cent of schools will boycott the SATs next year and then the league tables will be even more spurious.”

Dorset County Council said that the SATs had highlighted areas where pupils’ scores had improved.

Dorset County Council spokesman for Education John England said: “We have seen a significant improvement in the number of pupils achieving level five in English.

“It has gone up from 28 per cent last year to 35 per cent this year and we are very pleased.

“That is where the focus for schools and Dorset County Council has been for the last year.”

Pupils also showed a seven per cent improvement in the number of students getting level five scores in English compared to 2009, with a jump from 28 to 35 per cent.