A TEACHING union today backed calls for a massive overhaul of testing in schools for under-16s.

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) signalled its support for proposals by the General Teaching Council to scrap the current method of exams.

The independent regulatory body - set up by the Government in 2000 - recommends that Standard Assessment Tests for seven, 11 and 14-year-olds should be abolished.

Instead, it suggests a sampling system of testing where less than one per cent of primary school children and less than three per cent of secondary pupils would sit exams to map overall education standards.

The proposals, in a report to the House of Commons Education Select Committee, conclude that teachers should be given more opportunity to teach rather than "drilling" students for exams.

NUT general secretary Steve Sinnott welcomed the plans and urged the Government to act on the proposals.

He said: "The GTC is absolutely right. All the research we have done among our members has shown that an enormous amount of time is used up by the tests.

"Teachers feel compelled to teach towards the tests because of their high- stakes nature for the school.

"This means an inevitable narrowing in children's education. The Government should listen to the evidence instead of insisting on sticking with a system that constrains more than promotes children's education."