Half of boys aged 11 fail tough new Sats exams

HALF of 11-year-old boys will arrive at secondary school branded failures after not meeting tough new standards in the three Rs, figures reveal.

Almost 150,000 have not made the grade in harder Key Stage Two national curriculum Sats tests in reading, writing and maths.

They are falling further behind girls, particularly in writing, following the introduction of a rigorous new testing regime in England’s primary schools.

Experts say they lose out to precocious girls similar to the Hermione Granger character in Harry Potter who are dominating primary classes.

Tests in reading, writing and maths have been overhauled to include questions of a much higher level, some of which left children in tears when they sat the assessments in May.

Fifty-seven per cent of girls reached

‘They tend to be less confident’

the new expected standard across all three subjects compared to 50 per cent of boys, the Department for Education said. The gender gap was last as high in 2012 under a different assessment system which was dropped for the first time this year.

In writing, 68 per cent of boys achieved the new required standard compared to 81 per cent of girls. In reading, it was 62 per cent of boys and 70 per cent of girls, while in maths, 70 per cent of both made the grade.

Overall, 47 per cent of 11-year-olds are not up to scratch in the three Rs. Last year in England it was only 20 per cent of children, but the Government says results are not comparable as so much has changed in the tests.

Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, said high failure rates suggest the new tests may have been pitched too high. He said: ‘It isn’t helpful to have a lot of children going on to secondary school with a sense of failure.’

Chris McGovern, of the Campaign for Real Education, said primaries often have lots of confident ‘Hermione Granger’ types while boys tend to be less confident and to miss out.

The figures revealed big variations between local authorities. In Peterborough, 39 per cent of pupils met the expected standard in the three Rs compared to 67 per cent in London boroughs Richmond upon Thames and Kensington and Chelsea.