Science results for 6 to 7 year olds

Published 20 April 2020

This page has been archived.
It has been replaced by School results for 5 to 7 year olds.

Contents

1. Main facts and figures

• 82% of pupils in year 2 met the expected standard in science in the 2018 to 2019 school year
• pupils from the Chinese ethnic group were the most likely out of all ethnic groups to meet the expected standard
• White Gypsy and Roma pupils were the least likely out of all ethnic groups to meet the expected standard
• in every ethnic group, girls were more likely than boys to meet the expected standard
• in every ethnic group, pupils eligible for free school meals were less likely to meet the expected standard than other pupils

Things you need to know

In the 2018 to 2019 school year, 666,394 pupils were assessed for science in year 2 (when they were 6 or 7 years old).

Ethnicity was known for 98.6% of pupils. Of those:

• 74% were White
• 11% were Asian
• 6% had Mixed ethnic backgrounds
• 5% were Black
• 0.5% were from the Chinese ethnic group
• 2% were from Other ethnic groups

At the end of year 2, teachers assess pupils in reading, writing, maths and science. Pupils also take tests in reading and maths. This data only includes teacher assessments, as schools don’t submit test data to the Department of Education.

Results for the Isles of Scilly and the City of London are not included in local authority breakdowns as they only have 1 school each.

There were 2,529 Gypsy and Roma pupils and 682 Traveller of Irish Heritage pupils. Please use caution when interpreting figures for these groups as they are based on small numbers of pupils.

This data only includes pupils in state-funded schools.

107,158 pupils (16%) were eligible for free school meals.

School-level data is not published for key stage 1 subjects.

What the data measures

This data measures the percentage of pupils who met the expected standard in science.

Teachers assess pupils at the end of key stage 1 (year 2), when children are 6 or 7 years old.

To reach the expected standard, pupils must have been assessed by a teacher as 'working at the expected standard'.

The ethnic categories used in this data

This data groups ethnicities from the Department for Education’s school census. These groupings are based on the 2001 Census of England and Wales, with 2 exceptions:

• Traveller of Irish Heritage and Gypsy and Roma pupils are in separate categories
• the Chinese ethnic group is a separate category from Asian

These changes were made after consultations with local authorities and lobby groups.

Local authority data is only provided for 6 ethnic groups:

• Asian
• Black
• Chinese
• Mixed
• White
• Other

2. By ethnicity

• Location: England
• Time period: 2018 to 2019 school year
• Source: Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments: England 2019

Percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in science by ethnicity

Ethnicity	Expected standard
All	82
Asian	81
Bangladeshi	80
Indian	87
Pakistani	78
Asian other	82
Black	80
Black African	81
Black Caribbean	77
Black other	79
Chinese	89
Mixed	83
Mixed White/Asian	87
Mixed White/Black African	83
Mixed White/Black Caribbean	80
Mixed other	83
White	83
White British	84
White Irish	87
Gypsy/Roma	43
Irish Traveller	45
White other	79
Other	75
Unknown	63

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Science results for 6 to 7 year olds By ethnicity Summary

The data shows that:

• 82% of pupils met the expected standard in science in year 2 (when they were 6 or 7 years old)
• 89% of pupils from the Chinese ethnic group met the expected standard, the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
• 43% of White Gypsy and Roma pupils met the expected standard, the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups
• 84% of White British pupils met the expected standard

3. By ethnicity and gender

• Location: England
• Time period: 2018 to 2019 school year
• Source: Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments: England 2019

Percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in science by ethnicity and gender

Ethnicity	Boys	Girls
	%	%
All	80	85
Asian	78	85
Bangladeshi	76	84
Indian	84	90
Pakistani	74	81
Asian other	79	86
Black	76	85
Black African	77	86
Black Caribbean	72	82
Black other	75	83
Chinese	87	91
Mixed	81	86
Mixed White/Asian	85	89
Mixed White/Black African	81	86
Mixed White/Black Caribbean	77	83
Mixed other	81	87
White	81	85
White British	81	86
White Irish	84	89
Gypsy/Roma	42	44
Irish Traveller	39	50
White other	76	82
Other	72	78
Unknown	60	65

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Science results for 6 to 7 year olds By ethnicity and gender Summary

This data shows that:

• 85% of girls and 80% of boys met the expected standard
• in every ethnic group, girls were more likely than boys to meet the expected standard
• girls from the Chinese ethnic group were the most likely to meet the expected standard (91%)
• boys from the White Irish Traveller ethnic group were the least likely to meet the expected standard (39%)
• in the White Irish Traveller ethnic group, 50% of girls and 39% of boys met the expected standard (the biggest gap)
• in the White Gypsy and Roma ethnic group, 44% of girls and 42% of boys met the standard (the smallest gap)
• among White British pupils, 86% of girls and 81% of boys met the expected standard

4. By ethnicity and eligibility for free school meals

• Location: England
• Time period: 2018 to 2019 school year
• Source: Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments: England 2019

Percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in science by ethnicity and eligibility for free school meals

Ethnicity	FSM	Non-FSM
	%	%
All	69	85
Asian	74	83
Bangladeshi	76	81
Indian	79	88
Pakistani	73	78
Asian other	72	84
Black	76	82
Black African	78	82
Black Caribbean	71	80
Black other	74	81
Chinese	86	89
Mixed	73	86
Mixed White/Asian	75	89
Mixed White/Black African	77	85
Mixed White/Black Caribbean	72	84
Mixed other	73	86
White	67	86
White British	68	87
White Irish	63	91
Gypsy/Roma	41	44
Irish Traveller	41	51
White other	68	80
Other	68	77
Unknown	65	63

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Science results for 6 to 7 year olds By ethnicity and eligibility for free school meals Summary

Eligibility for free school meals (FSM) in England is used as an indicator of deprivation.

The data for FSM-eligible pupils shows that:

• 69% met the expected standard, compared with 85% of non-eligible pupils
• 86% from the Chinese ethnic group met the standard, the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
• 41% from the White Irish Traveller and White Gypsy and Roma groups met the standard, the lowest percentage
• in every ethnic group, they were less likely to meet the expected standard than non-eligible pupils
• White Irish pupils had the largest gap between FSM-eligible (63%) and non-FSM pupils (91%)
• pupils from the Chinese ethnic group had the smallest gap between FSM-eligible (86%) and non-eligible pupils (89%), along with White Gypsy and Roma pupils (41% and 44%)
• 68% of White British pupils met the expected standard, compared with 87% of non-eligible White British pupils

5. By ethnicity and area

• Location: England
• Time period: 2018 to 2019 school year
• Source: Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments: England 2019

Percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in science by ethnicity and area

Local authority	All	Asian	Black	Chinese	Mixed	White	Other
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Barking and Dagenham	81	83	84	94	81	79	85
Barnet	85	86	84	88	86	87	78
Barnsley	79	100	67	N/A*	78	79	67
Bath and North East Somerset	86	79	90	89	91	87	45
Bedford	75	66	74	100	70	78	84
Bexley	84	87	87	90	89	82	80
Birmingham	77	78	77	91	78	77	74
Blackburn with Darwen	81	81	67	100	86	81	79
Blackpool	79	81	64	80	80	79	70
Bolton	78	80	70	81	78	80	70
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	84	84	81	96	84	84	79
Bracknell Forest	87	89	100	100	92	87	78
Bradford	78	79	74	78	79	78	69
Brent	79	82	78	93	82	80	72
Brighton and Hove	87	76	86	83	89	89	62
Bristol, City of	81	75	74	94	79	83	66
Bromley	86	92	79	96	85	86	80
Buckinghamshire	86	80	86	92	85	87	87
Bury	81	75	71	93	82	82	68
Calderdale	79	73	71	70	76	81	69
Cambridgeshire	83	82	81	82	83	83	81
Camden	83	82	82	83	84	85	80
Central Bedfordshire	85	91	80	90	87	85	79
Cheshire East	84	80	67	78	85	85	73
Cheshire West and Chester	82	88	62	86	84	82	57
City of London
Cornwall	81	94	57	73	88	81	57
County Durham	83	78	100	87	88	83	73
Coventry	81	84	80	96	83	81	71
Croydon	84	86	85	86	84	84	79
Cumbria	85	76	83	71	93	85	71
Darlington	81	68	91	100	91	82	64
Derby	79	81	83	89	81	79	70
Derbyshire	83	80	86	79	87	83	76
Devon	85	73	85	88	88	85	67
Doncaster	79	74	70	87	76	79	63
Dorset	84	92	75	100	88	84	76
Dudley	79	77	81	93	78	80	64
Ealing	81	82	78	87	86	84	78
East Riding of Yorkshire	86	91	100	100	88	86	81
East Sussex	85	82	78	84	84	85	53
Enfield	78	84	77	95	86	75	77
Essex	83	84	82	87	84	83	83
Gateshead	82	83	84	80	92	82	64
Gloucestershire	83	80	76	92	82	84	79
Greenwich	84	92	87	93	88	80	87
Hackney	85	89	84	88	86	86	78
Halton	79	80	100	N/A*	88	78	56
Hammersmith and Fulham	85	84	79	86	88	89	79
Hampshire	88	85	89	89	88	88	81
Haringey	83	89	82	89	89	83	78
Harrow	85	90	80	90	86	80	78
Hartlepool	80	72	83	100	93	81	56
Havering	85	87	86	92	86	85	80
Herefordshire, County of	86	88	85	100	88	87	60
Hertfordshire	84	85	79	90	86	84	73
Hillingdon	82	84	81	82	81	82	80
Hounslow	85	88	79	100	86	84	82
Isle of Wight	79	86	75	100	82	80	50
Isles of Scilly
Islington	81	77	78	92	83	83	78
Kensington and Chelsea	86	83	84	88	86	88	84
Kent	85	87	89	94	87	85	78
Kingston upon Hull, City of	79	78	75	67	80	80	70
Kingston upon Thames	87	86	83	100	88	87	83
Kirklees	81	80	82	100	79	82	71
Knowsley	78	88	86	86	85	78	86
Lambeth	84	82	80	91	88	88	77
Lancashire	81	76	83	82	80	82	60
Leeds	77	74	75	83	76	79	72
Leicester	78	82	80	88	80	75	80
Leicestershire	84	88	76	79	83	83	78
Lewisham	83	83	79	92	84	87	89
Lincolnshire	80	91	77	83	83	80	74
Liverpool	76	75	75	85	75	77	66
Luton	76	79	74	82	76	72	80
Manchester	78	77	79	91	83	78	72
Medway	81	90	88	92	82	80	76
Merton	87	87	81	93	86	89	88
Middlesbrough	76	70	73	100	79	78	61
Milton Keynes	83	86	83	88	87	83	61
Newcastle upon Tyne	81	80	81	83	81	82	75
Newham	82	84	81	92	88	77	83
Norfolk	83	85	72	84	87	83	81
North East Lincolnshire	82	75	50	100	72	83	61
North Lincolnshire	82	78	71	100	82	82	50
North Somerset	87	88	75	80	88	87	100
North Tyneside	85	75	91	93	85	85	67
North Yorkshire	84	76	67	93	86	84	62
Northamptonshire	82	84	81	94	81	83	72
Northumberland	85	88	60	100	82	85	70
Nottingham	76	76	79	88	80	75	71
Nottinghamshire	83	82	78	95	81	83	78
Oldham	76	75	74	88	76	79	55
Oxfordshire	86	82	84	91	84	86	78
Peterborough	76	75	73	100	79	76	66
Plymouth	80	88	81	69	80	80	72
Portsmouth	84	85	71	81	85	84	76
Reading	78	78	78	92	77	81	74
Redbridge	83	86	80	83	87	80	79
Redcar and Cleveland	82	88	100	100	78	82	44
Richmond upon Thames	91	87	87	96	89	92	85
Rochdale	77	75	79	94	76	79	67
Rotherham	80	75	76	88	87	81	58
Rutland	85	67	83	100	75	86	75
Salford	80	77	78	100	86	81	66
Sandwell	77	79	79	87	82	76	62
Sefton	84	78	62	80	83	84	43
Sheffield	79	75	78	80	80	81	73
Shropshire	84	68	100	88	81	85	75
Slough	83	87	81	100	82	79	78
Solihull	85	85	79	100	87	85	87
Somerset	85	88	83	100	86	85	63
South Gloucestershire	86	91	79	95	81	86	85
South Tyneside	83	79	79	67	77	84	90
Southampton	81	80	84	100	81	81	73
Southend-on-Sea	86	82	90	83	84	86	64
Southwark	83	80	82	92	82	87	75
St. Helens	79	73	73	62	84	79	30
Staffordshire	84	82	81	100	83	84	65
Stockport	86	84	79	86	86	87	72
Stockton-on-Tees	84	86	81	78	83	84	57
Stoke-on-Trent	77	79	72	81	78	79	67
Suffolk	80	79	78	100	79	80	78
Sunderland	81	77	81	89	83	81	80
Surrey	86	85	85	97	86	87	84
Sutton	86	91	84	96	89	85	80
Swindon	83	83	90	100	80	83	89
Tameside	79	74	59	81	79	80	69
Telford and Wrekin	83	75	74	89	88	84	78
Thurrock	81	87	85	92	84	79	82
Torbay	81	87	50	100	89	81	80
Tower Hamlets	81	81	81	90	84	83	76
Trafford	87	86	85	91	84	88	82
Wakefield	79	74	84	89	80	80	72
Walsall	78	81	76	82	81	78	65
Waltham Forest	84	85	81	92	85	85	83
Wandsworth	84	78	80	88	85	91	67
Warrington	83	82	80	64	85	83	81
Warwickshire	84	84	86	93	84	84	73
West Berkshire	85	89	79	86	89	86	69
West Sussex	83	79	72	90	83	83	79
Westminster	84	85	83	88	85	86	80
Wigan	81	83	82	96	80	81	65
Wiltshire	83	70	78	81	84	83	91
Windsor and Maidenhead	89	85	78	100	91	90	86
Wirral	79	76	70	95	85	79	65
Wokingham	89	90	81	90	89	89	87
Wolverhampton	78	82	74	72	81	77	63
Worcestershire	83	77	73	76	87	83	76
York	86	85	82	92	92	86	71

^* Not applicable Data withheld to protect confidentiality

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Science results for 6 to 7 year olds By ethnicity and area Summary

The data shows that:

• out of all local authorities, White pupils were most likely to meet the expected standard in Richmond upon Thames (92%) and least likely to in Luton (72%)
• figures for other ethnic groups are based on small numbers of pupils, so reliable generalisations can't be made

6. Methodology

Local authorities collect key stage 1 data from 16,400 schools and submit it to the Department for Education.

This data is matched to school census records to identify pupils’ ethnicities and free school meal eligibility.

The data only covers state-funded schools in England. This includes local authority-maintained schools, academies and special schools. It excludes pupils in independent schools, alternative provision and those who are home schooling.

Some data is broken down by pupils' eligibility for free school meals (FSM). To be eligible, their families must:

• have applied for FSM at the time of the school census in January
• be receiving a qualifying benefit like Jobseeker’s Allowance

We refer to pupils who are not eligible for FSM (or whose eligibility is unknown) as ‘non-FSM’.

Only pupils with a valid key stage 1 outcome for a subject are included in the calculations for that subject.

The valid outcomes for science are:

• has not met the expected standard
• working at the expected standard
• absent
• disapplied

Suppression rules and disclosure control

Figures for the Isles of Scilly and City of London are not included as these local authorities have one school each.

The Department for Education (DfE) does not publish school-level information for science.

You can also read DfE’s statistical policy statement on confidentiality (PDF, 194KB, 5 pages) (PDF opens in a new window or tab).

Rounding

Percentages given in charts, tables and downloads are rounded to the nearest whole number.

Related publications

Schools, pupils and their characteristics: June 2019.

Quality and methodology information

Further technical information

2019 key stage 1: assessment and reporting arrangements (ARA).

7. Data sources

Source

Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments: England 2019

Type of data

Administrative data

Type of statistic

National Statistics

Publisher

Department for Education

Publication frequency

Yearly

Purpose of data source

This data provides results for the 2019 key stage 1 national curriculum assessments. The results are used to monitor pupils’ attainment in reading, writing, maths and science.

8. Download the data

KS1 Science -- National - Spreadsheet (csv) 38 KB

This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, time, time_type, geography, geography_type, geography_code, gender, age, FSM, value, value_type, denominator, numerator

KS1 Science -- Local Authority - Spreadsheet (csv) 548 KB

This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, time, time_type, geography, geography_type, geography_code, gender, age, value, value_type, denominator, numerator

Publication release date: 20 April 2020

full page history

1. 20 April 2020 Updated with the latest available data (for the 2018 to 2019 school year).

From: Department for Education

Previous editions:

1. 29 July 2019
2. 14 May 2019
3. 5 March 2018

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