Two in five fail to reach three Rs standards at 11

Almost two out of five of Rochdale pupils will start secondary school this year with poor reading, writing and maths.

Results of national curriculum tests show that 37% of the borough’s 11-year-olds failed to reach the expected standard for their age (level 4) across all three subjects.

Overall, 81% of Rochdale pupils reached level 4 in English, the same as last year, and 78% in maths, down from 79%. The science figure went down 2% to 87%.

These compared with the national figures of 80% for English, a drop from 81%. But both the maths and science figures for England remained steady at 79% and 88%.

It is the first time that English results have fallen in the history of the national curriculum tests.

The Government wants 78% of children to reach Level 4 in both English and maths by 2011, currently attained by 72% nationally and 73% in Rochdale.

Schools Minister Diana Johnson admitted that this would be “challenging” and said: “Parents are going to be concerned about this blip, as are head teachers and governing bodies.

“The Government is concerned as well. We have plans to deal with this.”