Over 300,000 teachers will vote on boycott of Sats

More than 300,000 teachers will be asked to vote on whether to boycott this summer's Sats, it emerged today. The National Union of Teachers and the National Association of Head Teachers, whose memberships make up the majority of the profession, want ministers to replace the tests, which are taken by 11-year-olds in English and maths, with teacher assessment. A quarter of the unions' membership responded to an initial ballot last year. Three-quarters of them voted to back a boycott. The unions will now give their members the chance to take part in a full ballot. A boycott would fall at the same time as the general election and would be a major embarrassment for the government. Last year, Gordon Brown made a personal appeal to teachers not to boycott the tests. Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "We want to avoid industrial action and call upon the government, even at this late stage, to enter into meaningful talks." Mick Brookes, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: "We have put forward a viable and professional alternative that would have improved the assessment process and ensured that no child leaves the primary phase with incorrect grades. The current system has resulted in thousands of children moving to the next phase of their education with misleading information about their ability. It has also led, quite unjustifiably, to schools and their communities being labelled as 'failing' with the consequence of damaging recruitment of headteachers and worsening their working environment."