More than 35,000 Sats papers are re-marked

More than 35,000 Sats papers were sent back for re-marking this year by primary schools across the country, as headteachers questioned the quality of marking and the validity of the tests.

There was almost a 10 per cent increase in the number of challenges to reading, writing and maths papers, which is partly due to a quarter of schools boycotting the exams for 11-year-olds in 2010. It costs £9 to have a paper remarked, meaning that schools spent almost £315,000 fighting for better grades.