§ Mr. MacleanTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what was the average reading age of children leaving primary school in each of the last 10 years; [74766]
(2) in each of the last 10 years, what proportion of children leaving primary school had a reading age of 11 or above. [74769]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisThe reading age of pupils is not collected centrally. The typical eleven year old is expected to achieve level four in the Key Stage 2 National Curriculum assessment tests. In the 1998 Reading test, 71 per cent. of pupils achieved level four, or above. This compares with 68 per cent. of pupils in 1997, the earliest year in which the reading test results were available.