One in five primary school children don’t speak English as their first language, official figures show
But half reach the benchmark standard in core subjects as immigrant pupils also outperform native British kids at maths
ONE in five primary school children don’t speak English as their first language but half reach the benchmark standard in reading, writing and maths, official figures show.
Immigrant pupils also outperform native British kids at maths according to Department for Education statistics.
Just half of white British children meet the benchmark standard in reading, writing and maths - with a tiny 5% of all kids achieving top marks by the age of 11.
In contrast almost three quarters of Chinese pupils, 65% of Indian pupils, 62% of Irish and more than half of Bangladeshi kids do.
Black Caribbean and Pakistani pupils were among the worst performers with less than half meeting the standard.
Sir Peter Lampl of the Sutton Trust said efforts to boost aspiration – especially among white working class boys – needed to be improved.
He said: “The fact that Indian and Chinese pupils are performing much better than the national average is in itself a great achievement.
“This reflects a strong cultural appreciation of education from which we can all learn.
“But it is worrying that by the end of primary school white British pupils have fallen behind.”
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In maths, 72% of immigrant children did well compared to 69 per cent of native pupils.
But white British kids scored better at reading and writing.
The data showed almost 200,000 pupils in England are at under-performing schools with 665 primaries falling below the Government’s floor standard.
According to the figures, produced from this year’s controversial SATs tests, there is still an England-wide postcode lottery for pupils trying to get a good education.
But teaching unions claimed the figures were “not worth the paper they were written on”.
Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), said: “This year, we saw the SATs system descend into chaos and confusion.
“Delayed and obscure guidance, papers leaked online, mistakes in test papers and inconsistent moderation made this year unmanageable for school leaders, teachers, parents and pupils.”
Schools Minister Nick Gibb insisted the new curriculum had raised standards.
He added: “Many schools have responded well to this more rigorous curriculum, supporting their pupils to be leaving primary school better-prepared for the demands of secondary school.”