Alleged Sats cheating has surged in the past two years amid greater scrutiny of transcripts, which are used when pupils’ handwriting may be illegible.
Cases of key stage 2 Sats “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.
Rise in Sats cheating cases
While the number of suspected cases is small compared with the number of pupils being assessed, and slightly lower than in the two years prior to Covid-19, it has risen sharply since the pandemic.
The 2024 figure is the second highest since 2012, beaten only by 2018 when there were 644 cases. The average number of KS2 Sats cases from 2012 to 2024 was 478.
Across all primary assessments, including the Reception Baseline Assessment, multiplication tables check and phonics screening check, suspected cases of maladministration increased from 452 in 2022 to 672 in 2024.
The year-on-year increase was 16 per cent, according to the analysis of Standards and Testing Agency (STA) figures.
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.
Transcripts are used when there are concerns that a pupil’s handwriting will be illegible. They are produced by teachers with a witness, and both the original script and transcript are sent in.
Such maladministration cases arise when a school fails to notify the STA that a pupil will have a transcriber, and when a pupil’s response does not match the transcript.
Scrutiny over transcripts
The 2024 increase comes after the STA enhanced scrutiny over transcripts, asking for “full visibility” on the issue from the sub-contractors that deal with issues flagged by markers. Previously they had only reported when they believed there was cause for concern.
The STA received more than 26,000 notifications of the use of a transcriber in 2024, compared with 227 maladministration allegations concerning transcripts.
Sarah Hannafin, head of policy at the NAHT school leaders’ union, said “it would have been helpful” for the Department for Education to have added an explanatory note to the STA figures to explain the increase in incorrect completion of transcripts.
Grouping “instances of minor, inconsequential errors with cases where there is clear cause for concern presents a skewed picture”, she warned.
While the DfE described the 227 cases of incorrect completion of transcript maladministration in 2024 as “minor”, there are concerns that the transcription system is susceptible to abuse.
One primary English lead, who wished to remain anonymous, said that, at their previous school, the headteacher had instructed them to correct pupils’ answers through transcription when doing so was unlikely to show a difference with the pupil’s original script.
“Only when it wasn’t totally obvious - for example, a child writes 60 but the answer is 69, their writing could be seen as 69,” they explained.
They continued: “This head was a decent person. They were just under so much pressure. A difference of one mark could mean one whole student not passing. In a small school that can be a difference of 8 or 9 per cent, which could be the amount to trigger an Ofsted inspection.”
The English lead added that it was “much easier to cheat” when acting as a scribe rather than when transcribing because it is often one-on-one due to a lack of people to serve as witnesses.
One concern is that the rise in incorrect transcripts could indicate dropping standards in pupils’ handwriting. The DfE declined to provide data on the number of transcription notifications before 2024, when there were 26,068.
Kirstie Hewett, chair of the primary and early years education committee at The English Association, said handwriting difficulties are on the rise due to an overcrowding of the KS1 and KS2 writing curriculum and post-pandemic challenges. She also suggested that an increase in the use of technology could be affecting gross and fine motor skills development.
“When we’ve asked children about the things they find tricky in writing over the last few years, a good number have highlighted handwriting as a barrier, reporting that they find it hard to produce well-formed letters of an even size, or that handwriting often makes their hands ache,” Ms Hewett said.
Rise in ‘over-aiding’
Last year the number of allegations of test administrators over-aiding pupils reached 155, up from 138 in 2023 and 89 in 2022, making it the second most common allegation.
The number of cases in which marks were removed or annulled due to a pupil cheating reached 29 last year - a tiny proportion of all pupils taking Sats but the highest figure since 2013.
While the number of schools with amendments or annulments to their KS2 results remains below pre-Covid levels, it has been increasing since the pandemic, reaching 46 last year, up from 34 in 2023 and 19 in 2022.
Ms Hannafin said: “Schools are held to incredibly high standards when it comes to handling Sats papers, and work hard to ensure the integrity of those tests - shown by the fact that many of the potential concerns are self-reported by schools.
“In the scheme of things, the number of allegations resulting in a finding of maladministration where a result is annulled is incredibly small.”
The DfE has been contacted for comment.
For the latest education news and analysis delivered every weekday morning, sign up for the Tes Daily newsletter
