CCEA launched proposals on education for 11 to 14 year olds

The Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) began a consultation on its plans on Wednesday.

CCEA's chief executive, Gavin Boyd, called for teachers and the wider community to support the proposals, which include scrapping the national curriculum tests.

"Over the last few years we've listened closely to what we've been told by parents, teachers, employers and pupils, and in response we've put the most important issues at the centre of the proposals set out today," he said.

Mr Boyd said there was "little educational value" in the current Key Stage 3 tests for 14 year olds.

The tests, which have been in place for more than a decade, are not popular with pupils and teachers, as preparing for the examinations means focusing on a narrow range of subjects.

CCEA proposes replacing them with "a well-supported system of teacher assessment".

Over the last few years we've listened closely to what we've been told by parents, teachers, employers and pupils Gavin Boyd CCEA chief executive Key Stage 3 questionnaire Compulsory school testing

Under the new proposals, schools would publish an annual report focusing on specific requirements for each pupil, after they had been assessed by their teachers.

This continual term-time assessment would be used to support learning across different areas and subjects.

A broader curriculum would allow teachers to concentrate on developing pupils' communication and numeracy skills.

Schools would be allowed to customise these reports as long as their statutory requirements had been met.

The proposed changes would be phased in over a number of years from September 2005 onwards, following a number of planned pilot schemes.