Around two in five Bolton children are failing to master the 3Rs in Bolton before they leave primary school.

Just under 40 per cent of children did not  meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in key stage two in the 2022-23 school year.

The new figures by the department for eduction show that  children’s abilities are also worse than before the coronavirus pandemic.

It comes as Covid-19 continues to wreak havoc on pupils' development across England, with attainment in key subjects remaining significantly worse than before three successive lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.

Figures show 63 per cent of 4,332 eligible pupils in Bolton met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in key stage two in the 2022-23 school year.

This was in line with the year before, but remained below pre-pandemic levels – in 2018-19, 65 per cent met the expected standard.

Bolton Council’s Executive Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Cllr Martin Donaghy, said results are actually pleasing as it places Bolton four per cent above the national average.

He said: “We would like to congratulate all the pupils who completed their KS2 tests this year and all the school staff and parents who supported them.

“The results are very pleasing, placing Bolton four per cent above the national average for combined reading, writing and maths.

“The gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers in Bolton is significantly narrower than the national gap with 53 per cent reaching the combined expected standard.

“We continue to work in partnership with schools to ensure that all pupils achieve the best possible learning experiences and outcomes at every stage of their school journey.”

Nationally, just 59 per cent of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in 2022-23 – unchanged from 2021-22, but still well below 65 per cent in 2018-19.

The Government aims for 90 per cent of key stage two children to meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths. No area in the country is above 75 per cent.

Tiffinie Harris, primary and data specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders said the results clearly show schools are still feeling the pandemic's effect on education.

Ms Harris said: "Schools are doing everything they can to improve results but have been hamstrung by the Government’s inadequate education recovery programme following the pandemic.

"Primary schools are also suffering from a lack of funding, as well as teacher shortages that are having an impact across the education sector. It is very difficult to raise standards under these circumstances.

"Unless the Government is prepared to make substantial, ongoing investment in education, their target of 90 per cent of children achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and maths will not be achieved."

The figures also show the gap between disadvantaged children and their classmates shrunk, with the proportion of disadvantaged children reaching the expected attainment across reading, writing and maths rising slightly from 43 per cent to 44 per cent.

Meanwhile, special education needs pupils also saw a rise in their attainment, with 20 per cent reaching the expected standard – up from 18 per cent the year before.

The Department for Education said its "mission is to make sure every child has a world-class start in life".

"It is great to see an increase in the proportion of disadvantaged pupils and those with SEN meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths," a spokesperson said.

"We have been relentlessly focused on closing the gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers, and we continue to fund our flagship National Tutoring Programme to help young people make up for time lost during the pandemic.

"We also continue to drive up standards as demonstrated by England coming fourth out of 43 countries that tested children of the same age in the PIRLS international survey of the reading ability of nine-and-10-year-olds," they added.

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