CONTROVERSIAL primary school tests will give children the opportunity to fulfil their potential and help prevent them being ill-prepared when they reach secondary school, a York MP has said.

The Government has been heavily criticised for its reforms to Key Stage One and Key Stage Two SATS tests and parents protested against the changes in May by taking pupils out of classes for a one day strike.

Parents of children at Lord Deramore’s Primary School in Heslington had written to their MP, Julian Sturdy, about their opposition to the rigorous testing, which they felt placed additional unfair pressure on youngsters.

Mr Sturdy, Conservative MP for York Outer, has now replied and has raised a number of points in support of the exams.

He told parents he would take their questions to Nick Gibb, the minister of state for Schools at the Department for Education, but defended the Government policy.

In his letter, Mr Sturdy said: “I wholeheartedly agree that our children deserve an education that will enable them to flourish as creative, confident, and critical thinkers.

“But I do not believe that any of these characteristics are undermined in our schools by the use of SATS.

"Rather, the new curriculum will provide a firmer academic grounding upon which children can be further supported to reach their full potential and this should not be to the detriment of their well-being or to the creative subjects they study.”

The MP also told parents he believed the old form of testing was not giving primary school leavers the skills they needed to succeed at secondary school and that teachers and schools have the highest expectations of every child.

He said: “Children will not be branded failures as a result of their attainment in SATS and it is important that undue pressure is not placed on them.

“SATS can be extremely important for giving a clear indication of the particular support that some children may require and testing can ensure that we do not fail those children from poorer and deprived backgrounds.

“Sadly, for many years young people have left primary school without being equipped with the necessary skills to undertake secondary education.

“That is why the Coalition Government conducted a review of the primary curriculum in 2011 to ensure that it was closer to the curriculums being taught in the most successful education systems in the world.

“The review was overseen by the national curriculum review panel, which was made up of highly experienced head teachers and teachers in the country.”

Mr Sturdy added that he sympathised with teachers who may have been given extra work to do as a result of the changes, but said he believed they had been given enough time to prepare for the new tests.