Last updated at 15:06, Tuesday, 20 December 2011

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THE Government vowed to tackle “chronic” under-performance in primary education as official figures showed more than 1,000 schools are failing to adequately teach the basics.

Data released today revealed that 1,310 primary schools in England fell below the standard expected for English and maths.

A third of 11-year-olds are not achieving the results they should be in reading, writing and arithmetic, with one in 10 boys leaving primary school with the reading age of a seven-year-old.

One of 14 boys also go on to secondary school with the writing age of a seven-year-old, the Department for Education figures showed.

Schools minister Nick Gibb said: “We are taking action to end years of chronic under-performance.”

Under the Government’s target, primaries do not meet the floor standard if fewer than 60 per cent of pupils reach Level 4, the level expected for the age group, in reading, writing and arithmetic.

According to today’s figures, 82 per cent of all pupils achieved Level 4 or above for English in the Key Stage 2 tests, up two percentage points from 2010. For maths, the figure was 80 per cent, up one percentage point from last year.

The 1,310 schools that failed to meet the target, out of more than 16,000 schools that fielded candidates across England, could potentially risk being closed or taken over.

Mr Gibb said: “The seven years of primary school are key to establishing the building blocks of a child’s education, particularly in reading, writing and arithmetic. Today’s figures reveal on a school-by-school basis the high academic standards achieved by thousands of primary schools in this country.

“But 1,310 schools are today shown to be below the floor – and about 150 have been languishing with poor standards for five years in a row.

“It is these schools that we will pay particular attention to in the year ahead, whether through conversion to a sponsored academy or other measures.”

The results also showed that at 265 primary schools, every child not only achieved the expected level in both English and maths but also made the expected progress.

Pupils are expected to achieve two levels of progress between Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 – a standard that was maintained by 85 per cent of pupils in English, and 83 per cent in maths.

First published at 09:12, Thursday, 15 December 2011
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk

• See today's Evening Mail for reaction

KEY: Pupils eligible refers to the number of pupils eligible to sit exams. The percentages for English and maths is the proportion of pupils who achieved at least level 4 in the National Curriculum tests. English and Maths VA measure (after shrinkage) = Raw figure on progress made in English and Maths between Key Stage One and Key Stage Two (does not take into account social factors) < = classes with six pupils or fewer do not publish their results.