The success of the Tories’ schools policy
economist.com
economist.com
Unsurprisingly, that means we're now higher in rankings in the tests. It also creates fun conversations like "why can this Year 7 give me rote definition of the subjunctive mood but can't grasp writing about their summer holiday" as children transfer from an examined year to the furthest away from a new set of exams.
I have severe doubts success in arbitary, mandatory testing having much correlation with success in a real world context, but a generation of children has had education with a significant constraint on creativity, arts, lateral and logical thinking or fun. Teacher attrition and attracting new staff also reflects this.