The education secretary has said he will listen to concerns about standardised testing for children in primary one.

John Swinney, said he was "absolutely 100% committed" to continuing literacy and numeracy assessments for primary children as young as five, but was "very alert" to the concerns of teachers.

Swinney told Holyrood's education committee he was aware of the debate around the testing of young primary children, particularly those from disadvantaged communities.

Liberal Democrat MSP Tavish Scott questioned: "Primary teachers are telling me, or they're asking the question, is the right thing to do to test a five-year-old's numbers and reading skills of kids who come from the most disadvantaged backgrounds, in other words who are living in poverty?

"They say could we not have some more flexibility to get out of the testing regime, there are much better things we can do with our group of five-year-olds. Do you think that's a reasonable argument?"

Mr Swinney responded: "I'm taking very careful and close interest in it, and I'm listening to what people are saying to me about this.

"There have been over 400,000 Scottish national standardised assessments undertaken so far, and I'm hearing some feedback about the P1 assessments, but I've not been inundated with that, but I'm very open to the question.

Swinney continued: "The P1 assessment, if properly handled, will be a pretty straightforward experience for a child because it's not presented in exam circumstances like the Scottish Qualifications Authority specialise in, it should be done in a very relaxed environment within the classroom.

"What it will help us with is to assess how much progress we are making year by year in closing the poverty-related attainment gap."

Mr Swinney added: "That's why we're doing this, to give teachers the information to better inform their steps to close the poverty-related attainment gap."