School tests show decline in standard of English

Standards in English among 14-year-olds at secondary school have fallen, test results for 600,000 pupils published yesterday show.

Only 72 per cent reached the required standard for the subject in national curriculum tests this year, compared with 74 per cent the previous year.

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But the results for maths and science improved, with 77 per cent reaching the required standard in maths - a rise of three percentage points - and 72 per cent in science - up two percentage points.

Jim Knight, the Schools minister, admitted "concern" over the English results. Worryingly, standards in reading were worse than the overall picture in English - with just 59 per cent of boys reaching the required standard compared with 74 per cent of girls. Overall, the figure was 66 per cent.

The fall comes at a time when ministers have been spending millions of pounds on catch-up classes for those struggling with the three Rs when they enter secondary schools - and bodes ill for future performance in GCSE in English.

Steve Sinnott, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, warned that teenagers were just reading "less and less".

He pinned the blame on "the impact of peer pressure, technological innovation and just being a teenager in an ever-changing world".

Sarah Teather, education spokeswoman for the Liberal Democrats, said: "This is simply unacceptable. That so many boys reach their teens with such poor language skills is utterly depressing. It barely needs saying that without a command of English they will struggle to advance in either further education or work."

Nick Gibb, Conservative schools spokesman, added: "It is unacceptable that 33 per cent of children at the age of 14 are still not reaching level 5 [the required standard] in reading."

Yesterday's results follow disappointing results in the tests for pupils aged seven and 11. The percentage reaching the necessary standard fell by 1 per cent in English for 11-year-olds.

Mr Knight said: "No government has done more to raise standards in the basics and there have been huge increases across the board since 1997.

"These results show positive progress in science and a strong improvement in maths building on an already high benchmark.

"However, I'm concerned that English has fallen this year following the very good progress seen last year."