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Minister welcomes Key Stage 2 results
Dated: 05/08/2008
Minister welcomes Key Stage 2 results
Schools Minister Jim Knight today welcomed the improvements in provisional test results for 11 year olds. The figures show that the number of primary school pupils reaching the expected level for their age at Key Stage 2 in English has improved by one percentage point to 81 per cent. This represents an 18 percentage point increase since 1997. Mathematics has risen for the fifth year in a row by one percentage point to 78 per cent, with improvements for both boys and girls. Science at Level 4+ remains high at 88 per cent – the same as last year.
Results for reading, writing and maths combined at level 4 show an increase of one percentage point. The figure is now at 61 per cent compared to 43 per cent in 1997 and means that 101,000 more children are now reaching the expected levels.
Publishing the provisional 2008 Key Stage 2 results, Schools Minister Jim Knight said:
“I want to congratulate schools and pupils for all their hard work. Over the last decade there has been sustained improvement at Key Stage 2. Compared to 1997, 101,000 more 11 year olds are now achieving the target level for their age in English and 93,000 more in Maths.
“There is still more to be done before our education system is truly world class, and while I am pleased that there continues to be steady improvement overall, the results at the higher level show more needs to be done to improve personalised learning to ensure that all children fulfil their potential at this crucial stage.
“We know that the transition year between primary and secondary schools can be crucial. That is why we want to see more children leaving primary school with a good grasp of the basics. We are therefore placing a renewed emphasis on phonics in early reading and expanding the Every Child a Reader programme, which a recent evaluation shows is having a revolutionary effect in helping those children who are really struggling and narrowing the gap between boys and girls. We are also introducing the Every Child a Writer programme to help deal with the stubborn issue of under performance in writing - especially boys’ writing. In maths children now focus more on mental arithmetic including learning times tables a year earlier and we have accepted Sir Peter Williams’ recommendation that there should be a maths specialist in every school.”
Figures show that of the pupils who reached Level 4 or above in English or maths at Key Stage 2 in 2001, 71 per cent went on to get 5 good A*-C grades at GCSE last summer, compared with 15 per cent of those who didn’t reach Level 4.
The Key Stage 2 results for 2008 published today also show:
- boys have continued to improve their performance with increases in Reading and maths at L4+. Girls have gone up 2ppts in reading and in maths at L4+;
- nearly half of 11 year olds are achieving the higher Level 5 standard in reading but disappointingly English overall has gone down 5ppts compared to last year;
- 72 per cent of pupils achieved a Level 4 in both English and maths, an increase of one percentage point from last year.
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