One in three pupils still failing to achieve 3Rs target

MORE than a third of pupils are still not meeting expected standards in the three Rs by the time they leave primary school, official figures have revealed.

Results from this year’s national curriculum SATs papers show that just 64 per cent of children made the grade in reading, writing and maths.

About 600,000 Year Six pupils – aged ten and 11 – sat the tests in May, and the results are used to assess the performance of their schools. Last year, 61 per cent met the expected standard across all three subjects, while just 53 per cent made the grade in 2016 – the first year a rigorous new testing regime was brought in

Schools standards minister Nick Gibb said: ‘I think schools are getting to grips with the curriculum and I think they’re teaching it better than when it was first introduced. They have a better understanding of the content and how to teach it in the most effective way.’

But Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said: ‘Despite the hard work of teachers and pupils, over a third of 11-year-olds will arrive in secondary schools in September labelled as “below the expected standard”. This devastating outcome is the result of policy-makers’ delusion that to measure the performance of our school system it is necessary to test each individual pupil.

‘The stress this causes for children and their schools is building up.’