Girls still well ahead in three R's as a THIRD of 11-year-old boys fail to meet expected standard in their SAT tests

Students expected to reach Level 4 in reading, writing and maths

85,000 boys failed to meet grade - compared with 55,000 girls

It comes as a new spelling, punctuation and grammar test was launched

Almost 130,000 children left primary school this year without basic skills in reading, writing and arithmetic, official figures show.

Only 76 per cent of 11-year-olds demonstrated a good understanding of the core subjects in standard attainment tests (SATs).

Although a one per cent improvement on the previous year, it means 129,000 still went to secondary school with significant gaps in their education.

Girls are outperforming boys in reading, writing and maths, it was revealed yesterday

The Government said most children were doing well by achieving a Level 4 pass in the three Rs but admitted too many were failing to reach the benchmark.

Just 63 per cent managed a higher ‘good’ Level 4 in the subjects. It is the first time details of this category have been published.

Almost 540,000 11-year-olds took the national curriculum tests in 2012/13, the Department for Education said. Reading, writing and maths tests took place over the school year and were combined to produce an overall score.









Education Minister Elizabeth Truss said children should be congratulated for their achievements, but that the new test encourages schools to focus on these basics

The proportion of children who reached the expected standard in reading dropped from 87 per cent to 86 per cent.

And only 45 per cent managed a top Level 5, a fall of three per cent.



But those achieving expected standards in writing rose from 81 per cent to 83 per cent and in maths from 84 per cent to 85 per cent. Just over a quarter of children also failed to reach the desired level in a new spelling, punctuation and grammar test that was introduced this year.



This rose to almost a third of boys – 31 per cent or 85,000 pupils – compared to 21 per cent of girls or 55,000 pupils.



SATS 2013: LESSONS LEARNED

76 per cent of pupils achieved Level 4 in reading, writing and maths, increased from 75 per cent in 2012 63 per cent achieved a 'good' Level 4 in the three disciplines The number of pupils gaining Level 4 in reading dropped one per cent to 86 per cent

Level 5 scores dropped from 48 to 45 per cent

In maths, 85 per cent of pupils gained Level 4 – up one percentage point Level 5 scores were up by two percentage points to 41 per cent

Level 4 writing results were up two percentage points to 83 per cent.



The test includes sections where children insert missing full stops and capital letters, choose the correct preposition for a sentence or spell words including ‘substantial’ and ‘physically’.

Pupil progress measures – which look at children’s development between the ages of seven and 11 – were also released and showed improvements in writing and maths but weaker performance in reading.



Education minister Elizabeth Truss said the figures showed the majority of children were performing well.



But she added: ‘The statistics also reveal one in four children is leaving primary school without a firm grasp of spelling, punctuation or grammar.



‘The new test encourages schools to focus on these basics.’

