The use of transcribers for key stage 2 Sats has increased more than fivefold since before the pandemic amid concerns about declining pupil handwriting, the impact of Covid-19 disruption and the susceptibility of the system to abuse.
Data obtained by Tes shows the number of notifications received by the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) for the use of a transcriber - used when there are concerns over the legibility of a pupil’s handwriting - at KS2 increased by 566.9 per cent between 2018-19 and 2023-24, reaching 26,068.
This figure was up 27.7 per cent on 2022-23 when there were 20,411 notifications.
The number of notifications the STA received from schools of the use of a scribe at KS2 also rose drastically over the same period.
In 2023-24, there were some 11,416 notifications, up 173.5 per cent since 2018-19 and an increase of 23.7 per cent on 2022-23.
Guidance from the STA says that if it will be difficult for a marker to read a pupil’s writing, schools should make a transcript at the end of the test, but before the pupil leaves the test room. Schools can transcribe all or part of a pupil’s test script. If the marker can read the pupil’s writing, they will mark the original work.
A scribe is a writing assistant who writes out answers dictated by the pupil during the test. The guidance says schools can provide a scribe if other options to enable the pupil to work independently are not appropriate, and the use of a scribe reflects normal classroom practice.
Although the STA provides on access arrangement eligibility and conduct, no approval or rejection is required by the STA or the Department for Education when a school notifies them of the use of a transcriber or scribe.
Data for 2024-25 Sats, beginning today, is not yet available, and there is no data for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years as Sats were paused during the pandemic.
The figures obtained by Tes through a freedom of information (FOI) request raise further questions about the susceptibility of the KS2 access arrangement system to abuse.
Surge in maladministration
Tes has previously revealed that alleged KS2 Sats cheating has surged in the past two years.
Cases of “maladministration” - actions that risk undermining the integrity of tests or could lead to results that do not reflect pupils’ genuine ability - rose to 609 last year, up from 386 in 2022 - a 58 per cent increase and the second highest figure on record since 2012, driven by greater scrutiny of transcripts.
The uptick in cases in 2024 was mainly caused by an increase in the number of allegations of “incorrect completion of transcripts” - up from 37 in 2023 to 227 in 2024.
Data from the DfE, in response to the FOI by Tes, also showed that the STA has five staff who investigate allegations of maladministration.
‘Desperation’ for extra marks
One primary English lead who has worked as a transcriber, and who wished to remain anonymous, said that a reason behind the increase in the use of transcription and scribes is a “desperation in reaching out for the extra marks”.
They described how the system can allow school staff to help pupils get more marks than if only their own work had been submitted.
The primary teacher added: “If I can see that that child has written 56 but it looks like 66 [and that’s the right answer], I’ll transcribe it [as that] if they tell me it’s 66 just to make sure that they get the mark,” they said.
“I do think the criteria are loose and I do think some people are abusing it, but I think that talks to the amount of pressure teachers are under and the ridiculous amount of accountability that comes from these tests,” the teacher said.
“What’s really difficult is when you’ve got a scribe one-to-one, really, you should have another adult in the room to be a witness to that. But if you’ve got five children needing a scribe, that’s 10 adults in addition to the kids that are doing the tests under normal circumstances. Who has that?”
Access arrangements not a ‘ٳ’
Kirstie Hewett, chair of the Primary and Early Years Education Committee at The English Association, defended schools’ use of access arrangements.
“I think schools are rightly ensuring that pupils are only being judged in relation to the focus of the test...I don’t think this is a threat to academic rigour - it is right that the test measures only what it has been designed to do and teachers feel strongly that this is fair to the child,” she said.
James Bowen, assistant general secretary at the NAHT school leaders’ union, said that “schools think very carefully before making access arrangements for pupils and there is clear guidance they have to follow”.
Megan Dixon, associate lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, said that the data was “a symptom of a system that is not working well”, adding that “the possible reasons for the rises are complex and not well understood”.
She said: “Because of the high-stakes nature of the statutory tests, I am not sure we, as a sector, have a handle on who can read and write and who is finding it hard. It is easy to lose sight of the children in all of this and just carry on rearranging the policy and structural deckchairs, again, rather than tackling the issues themselves.”
Declining pupil handwriting
Another concern raised by the anonymous teacher and shared by Michael Tidd, headteacher at East Preston Junior School in West Sussex, was around the increase of transcription and scribes because of declining pupil handwriting standards.
“Standards of secretarial skill may have declined [since 2018], which could well be connected to the fact that the 2024 cohort had missed big chunks of KS1 due to the pandemic,” Mr Tidd said.
He added: “It’s much harder to recover that lost time for teaching pen grip [and] letter formation.”
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the rise reflected the increase in pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and agreed that Covid was a factor.
He added: “Children taking Sats in recent years also had the early stages of their education disrupted by the pandemic, and although teachers and leaders are doing everything they can to help pupils catch up, it’s likely there will have been an impact on parts of their development.”
Mr Bowen agreed: “It is hard to identify a single factor that has led to the increase in access arrangements being used, but the increasing levels of SEND we have seen over recent years and the disruption to learning caused by Covid are likely to be a part of the picture.”
Extra time on the rise
Although not as stark an increase as for transcribers and scribes, there has nonetheless been a 19.5 per cent rise in schools applying for extra time for pupils - from 103,655 applications in 2018-19 to 123,891 last academic year. That 2023-24 figure was also up 6.2 per cent on 2022-23 (116,693).
On this rise in extra time, Mr Tidd explained that in 2019 one of the questions to determine if you were entitled to it was: “Can the pupil read age-appropriate texts aloud and fluently at a speed of 90 words per minute, without making errors, or with very few errors - meaning less than five errors per 20 words?”
Mr Tidd said that the question is now: “Can the pupil read age-appropriate texts aloud and fluently without making errors, or with very few errors?”
He noted that the reduced “specificity may have opened options for children who were previously not eligible but would have benefited” from extra time.
The anonymous primary English lead said that there “seems to be a lot more children coming through with a lot more reasons to need additional time”.
They added: “It’s not just that, I think teachers are starting to realise that the criteria for additional time can be applied to way more children than they thought, and obviously the ability to have extra time can mean extra points, which again speaks to how much pressure teachers are under.”
A DfE spokesperson said: “High and rising standards are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. It is vital that the statutory assessment system is fair and inclusive, so all pupils can achieve and thrive.
“For this reason, STA offer a number of access arrangements to be used where appropriate and we trust schools to administer the tests in accordance with the statutory guidance.”
The DfE added that access arrangements must never advantage the pupil and are subject to detailed guidance.
It also pointed out that where schools notify STA of transcriptions, these can be of small pieces of text, not necessarily whole papers.
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