4.5.5 Teachers report on primary school pupils’ attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 when pupils are typically seven years old. The assessment measures pupils’ attainment against the levels set by the National Curriculum for speaking and listening, reading, writing, mathematics and science.
4.5.6 At this stage, 85% of pupils in the South West had reached the expected level in reading, 82% in writing, 90% in mathematics and 90% in science, with girls achieving better results than boys, particularly in writing and reading, in 2010. The South West results are one percentage point higher than the England average for writing, mathematics and science but the same for reading. The percentage of pupils achieving the expected level of competence was lower in 2010 than in 2005 across all subjects, with only the results for writing improving at all within the last three years (Department for Education, Key Stage 1 Attainment).
Figure 4.5.3 Percentage of maintained schools pupils achieving Level 2 or above at Key Stage 1; South West, 2005 to 2010 (provisional)
4.5.7 As with other indicators of attainment, achievement varies considerably by pupil characteristics and geography. Among those least likely to reach expected standards are children with special educational needs, Black children, those known to be eligible for free school meals and those with a first language other than English. Chinese children, by contrast, do better than any other ethnic group in every subject except science and were, along with Black children, the most notable ‘improvers’ in reading and writing, and the only ‘improvers’ in maths and science between 2008 and 2010. The proportion of Black children reaching the desired standard in science, however, fell by six percentage points over the two year period.
4.5.8 Pupils undertake written tests at age 11 to assess their abilities in English, reading, writing, mathematics and science at the end of Key Stage 2. Three-quarters (74%) of pupils in the South West achieved the desired standard (level 4) in English and maths at this stage in 2010 (Figure 4.5.4) compared with 73% of pupils in England. Girls (77%) are more likely to achieve the expected standards than boys (72%) (Department for Education: National Curriculum Assessments at Key Stage 2). Children in care, those receiving free school meals or those with special educational needs, and those of Black ethnic origin are considerably less likely than average to achieve the standard. Pupils in the least deprived areas, as defined by the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) outperform pupils resident in the most deprived areas (Department for Education, Key Stage 2 Attainment by Pupil Characteristics).
4.5.9 Standards have improved since 2005 (Figure 4.5.4) although results in 2009 were slightly lower than the previous year. The improvements were replicated to a greater or lesser extent across many of the pupil characteristics with the most notable improvers being pupils of Black or Asian origin, and pupils known to be eligible for free school meals.
Figure 4.5.4 Percentage of maintained school pupils achieving Level 4 or above in both English and Mathematics in Key Stage 2 tests; South West and England: 2005 to 2010
