'Test results move' after spin row

12 April 2012

Education Secretary Alan Johnson could be told to strip his officials of their powers to decide when school test results are published after the latest row over spin.

The Conservatives claimed on Monday that Mr Johnson's aides had attempted to "bury" the bad news of poor primary school results by publishing them on the same day as more positive GCSE figures were released.

The watchdog looking into the controversy may call for greater separation between official statistics and staff responsible for government policy in future. A source close to the Statistics Commission said the watchdog will meet on Wednesday to decide how to take the matter forward.

The Commission could recommend that the Government publishes school test results on a set date every year, as with GCSEs and A-Levels.

Currently, the results date for primary tests can change depending on the decisions taken by officials in the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). It was the decision to move the date of primary school results to the same time as GCSEs which sparked the row.

However, the source also suggested it was possible the Commission could demand further answers from the DfES about the timing of the primary school results.

This would mean the inquiry would drag on into next week and possibly beyond. The Commission has the power to make recommendations to the Government but not to force action.

The spin row broke out on Monday after it was revealed that civil servants had objected to plans to publish both the primary and GCSE results on the same day - Wednesday August 24 this year.

A series of emails showed officials were overruled by senior policy staff in the DfES, who suggested Mr Johnson's special advisers "positively want(ed)" the two sets of results to be released at the same time.

Shadow education secretary David Willetts said the episode had the "whiff" of previous Labour spin scandals, in which advisers sought to "bury" bad news.

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