The Guardian,here, has a picture of Michael Rosen above an article campaigning for the abolition of SATS. There are two problems with SATs:
1. The marking of the English SATs is corrupt, with mark boundaries adjusted to meet political considerations at the QCA. The English SATs do not do what they should do, and in particular Level 4 does not mean Level 4. These SATs should be removed from the QCA, which is not competent to oversee them.
2. The maths SAT is fairly marked, but the language contains hidden obstacles which prevent pupils from seeing the nature of the question in some cases. This turns the maths SAT into something like an English SAT.
3. There is too much discretion in the amount of support offered in the science SAT, so that results are unreliable between schools.
Getting rid of SATs would leave no reliable check on performance at 11. This would suit the Left and Michael Rosen, whose left-wing views are reflected in much of his work outside the BBC, including this and this in the Socialist Worker Online. The second is an interesting piece - Mr Rosen is opposed to smiley faces as well as SATs, as he thinks they show most children that their work is not good enough for a smiley face.
Reliable SATs would show that the proportion of pupils achieving L4, genuinely, in English and maths is lower than the government would find politically acceptable. Taking the politics out of SATs can only be achieved by removing the political influence of left-leaning officials, and putting them under the control of genuinely independent examining boards. We need a fresh start.