CONTROVERSIAL tests for primary schools are not fully accessible for pupils with learning difficulties such as dyslexia, experts have warned.

Feedback on the roll-out of the literacy and numeracy assessments also called for improvements for pupils with visual impairments.

The concerns emerged shortly after the launch of a national campaign to derail the tests in P1, backed by national charities, teaching unions and parents groups.

The tests in P1 are part of a raft of new assessments, with further testing in P4, P7 and S3. The Scottish Government argues testing in the first year of primary gives an idea of what level pupils are at when they come to school. But critics claim they are too stressful for the youngest pupils.

Fresh concerns over their suitability for pupils with additional support needs emerged from a freedom of information request to CALL Scotland, an organisation based at Edinburgh University which helps pupils overcome barriers to education.

An email from Professor John Ravenscroft, who specialises in childhood visual impairment, said there were problems with presentation, the length of text in some questions and compatibility with pupils used to traditional Braille.

Mr Ravenscroft said that in one extreme case a child spent the equivalent of two days completing the tests.

Also included in the release is a list of concerns from CALL Scotland staff who carried out testing on the new system in May this year, eight months after they were introduced in schools across Scotland.

Noted problems included distracting features, unclear instructions and technological features not working properly.

A further document, sent to Call Scotland by a local government worker, said initial difficulty levels were “too challenging for children with numeracy difficulties”.

A Scottish Government spokesman said the assessments had been designed to be as accessible as possible and were compatible with a large variety of devices.

He said: “This is important because it means learners are able to complete the assessments using the tools familiar to them from everyday classroom practice - such as the screen readers used by visually impaired pupils.

Additional measures include having accessibility text embedded within questions for the visually impaired.”

The spokesman said a number of improvements would be made.