Writing results for 6 to 7 year olds

Published 29 July 2019

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Contents

1. Main facts and figures

• in 2017/18, 70% of pupils met the expected standard in writing in year 2 (at 6 or 7 years old)
• 16% of pupils met the higher standard in writing
• pupils from the Chinese ethnic group were the most likely out of all ethnic groups to meet both the expected and higher standards
• White Irish Traveller pupils were least likely to meet the expected standard
• White Irish Traveller pupils were also least likely to meet the higher standard, along with White Gypsy/Roma pupils
• in every ethnic group, a higher percentage of girls than boys met the expected and higher standards
• in every ethnic group except White Gypsy/Roma, pupils eligible for free school meals were less likely to meet the expected standard than other pupils

Things you need to know

In 2017/18, 664,979 pupils were assessed for writing in year 2 (when they are 6 or 7 years old).

Ethnicity was known for 99% of pupils. The broad ethnic breakdown was as follows:

• 75% of pupils were White
• 11% were Asian
• 6% had Mixed ethnicity
• 5% were Black
• 0.5% were Chinese
• 2% were from the Other ethnic group

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

The Isles of Scilly and the City of London have only one school each. Their results are not included in local authority breakdowns.

This data only includes pupils in state-funded schools.

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.

What the data measures

This data measures the writing attainment of pupils at the end of key stage 1 (year 2), when they are 6 to 7 years old.

Teachers assess each pupil against the following standards:

• expected standard – pupils are 'working at the expected standard' or 'working at greater depth within the expected standard'
• higher standard – pupils are 'working at a greater depth within the expected standard'

The ethnic categories used in this data

This data uses categories from the Department for Education’s school census. These groupings are broadly based on the 2001 national Census, with 3 exceptions:

• Traveller of Irish Heritage and Gypsy/Roma children have been separated into 2 categories
• Sri Lankan is included in the Asian/Asian British group but is not reported separately
• Chinese pupils have been assigned a separate category from Asian

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

Data is reported for broad and detailed ethnic categories. These are

Asian/Asian British:

• Indian
• Pakistani
• Bangladeshi
• Sri Lankan
• Other Asian background

Black/African/Caribbean/Black British:

• Black African
• Black Caribbean
• Black Other

Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups:

• White and Black Caribbean
• White and Black African
• White and Asian
• Other Mixed background

White:

• White British
• White Irish
• Traveller of Irish Heritage
• Gypsy/Roma
• Other White

Chinese

Other ethnic group

2. By ethnicity

• Location: England
• Time period: 2017/18
• Source: Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments: England 2018

Percentage of pupils meeting the expected and higher standards in writing by ethnicity

Ethnicity	Expected standard	Higher standard
All	70	16
Asian	74	18
Bangladeshi	73	17
Indian	81	24
Pakistani	68	13
Asian other	76	19
Black	72	16
Black African	74	18
Black Caribbean	66	12
Black other	69	14
Chinese	83	31
Mixed	72	18
Mixed White/Asian	77	22
Mixed White/Black African	73	18
Mixed White/Black Caribbean	65	12
Mixed other	73	19
White	69	16
White British	70	16
White Irish	70	19
Gypsy/Roma	25	1
Irish Traveller	24	1
White other	67	14
Other	65	13
Unknown	53	11

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

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

This data shows that:

• overall, 70% of pupils met the expected standard in writing in year 2 (at 6 or 7 years old), and 16% met the higher standard
• 83% of pupils from the Chinese ethnic group met the expected standard and 31% met the higher standard (the highest percentages out of all ethnic groups)
• 24% of pupils from the White Irish Traveller pupils met the expected standard (the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups)
• 1% of pupils from the White Irish Traveller and White Gypsy/Roma groups met the higher standard (the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups)
• 70% of White British pupils met the expected standard and 16% met the higher standard

3. By ethnicity and eligibility for free school meals

• Location: England
• Time period: 2017/18
• Source: Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments: England 2018

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

Ethnicity	FSM	Non-FSM
	%	%
All	53	73
Asian	64	75
Bangladeshi	68	74
Indian	68	82
Pakistani	62	69
Asian other	63	77
Black	65	73
Black African	68	75
Black Caribbean	58	68
Black other	63	71
Chinese	71	84
Mixed	59	75
Mixed White/Asian	61	79
Mixed White/Black African	64	75
Mixed White/Black Caribbean	54	69
Mixed other	61	76
White	49	72
White British	50	73
White Irish	42	75
Gypsy/Roma	25	24
Irish Traveller	19	31
White other	55	67
Other	56	67
Unknown	53	53

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

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

The Department for Education uses eligibility for free school meals (FSM) as an indicator of deprivation.

This data shows that:

• in 2017/18, 53% of FSM-eligible pupils met the expected standard in writing, compared with 73% of non-FSM pupils (a gap of 20 percentage points)
• in every ethnic group except for White Gypsy/Roma, FSM-eligible pupils were less likely to meet the expected standard than non-FSM pupils
• among FSM-eligible pupils, those from the Chinese ethnic group were most likely out of all ethnic groups to meet the expected standard (at 71%)
• 19% of FSM-eligible White Irish Traveller pupils met the expected standard, the lowest percentage out of all groups
• 50% of FSM-eligible White British pupils met the expected standard, compared with 73% of non-FSM pupils
• White Irish pupils had the biggest attainment gap between FSM-eligible and non-FSM pupils, at 23 percentage points

4. By ethnicity and area

• Location: England
• Time period: 2017/18
• Source: Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments: England 2018

Percentage of pupils achieving the expected standard in writing by ethnicity and area

Geography	All	Asian	Black	Chinese	Mixed	White	Other
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Barking and Dagenham	70	77	77	78	73	62	62
Barnet	73	79	72	91	78	72	69
Barnsley	67	67	63	50	68	67	78
Bath and North East Somerset	71	91	40	67	67	71	58
Bedford	66	63	79	80	65	66	50
Bexley	76	85	83	88	77	73	72
Birmingham	67	70	67	81	67	64	65
Blackburn with Darwen	68	71	76	80	69	66	55
Blackpool	67	80	50	67	76	67	73
Bolton	68	73	57	67	79	67	60
Bournemouth	71	86	85	80	72	70	55
Bracknell Forest	74	83	71	82	77	73	77
Bradford	67	70	61	100	65	65	58
Brent	68	75	66	71	71	66	60
Brighton and Hove	69	63	73	75	70	69	46
Bristol, City of	68	70	59	82	69	69	67
Bromley	76	85	70	85	76	75	76
Buckinghamshire	72	71	68	96	74	72	58
Bury	67	66	68	81	64	69	52
Calderdale	64	63	67	86	63	64	50
Cambridgeshire	68	77	58	94	73	68	73
Camden	71	75	67	80	71	71	67
Central Bedfordshire	73	76	77	81	72	73	70
Cheshire East	70	79	81	60	72	70	54
Cheshire West and Chester	68	76	71	88	74	68	68
City of London
Cornwall	66	72	0	77	71	66	65
County Durham	73	73	50	77	70	73	52
Coventry	65	73	67	75	66	62	58
Croydon	72	77	73	91	72	71	70
Cumbria	69	83	50	82	71	69	71
Darlington	71	80	70	50	74	71	50
Derby	68	70	77	78	73	67	64
Derbyshire	70	80	61	86	74	70	52
Devon	69	73	57	83	69	69	58
Doncaster	69	71	76	87	72	69	58
Dorset	70	80	25	100	75	70	56
Dudley	67	66	69	70	68	67	58
Ealing	70	74	64	84	71	72	63
East Riding of Yorkshire	71	81	40	67	81	71	40
East Sussex	73	80	71	88	77	73	55
Enfield	69	78	70	92	78	65	71
Essex	71	83	77	80	73	71	73
Gateshead	72	89	86	83	80	71	54
Gloucestershire	69	74	69	93	74	69	48
Greenwich	76	83	81	90	73	71	71
Hackney	77	83	77	93	78	76	76
Halton	67	50	100	N/A*	79	67	33
Hammersmith and Fulham	74	79	68	88	75	77	73
Hampshire	74	82	73	92	77	74	73
Haringey	74	81	75	75	80	73	68
Harrow	74	81	66	87	73	69	60
Hartlepool	72	79	100	80	68	72	63
Havering	73	84	74	88	74	71	68
Herefordshire, County of	73	80	100	100	80	73	54
Hertfordshire	72	79	72	92	74	71	69
Hillingdon	70	78	69	82	72	66	65
Hounslow	75	82	70	88	77	71	75
Isle of Wight	61	100	0	100	67	60	0
Isles of Scilly
Islington	72	78	68	100	68	75	68
Kensington and Chelsea	76	85	69	60	80	78	69
Kent	73	83	84	75	79	72	70
Kingston upon Hull, City of	67	81	63	100	66	67	62
Kingston upon Thames	74	75	67	94	74	74	71
Kirklees	67	70	63	73	61	67	66
Knowsley	65	78	65	100	71	65	70
Lambeth	75	76	74	86	76	75	71
Lancashire	69	69	72	70	69	70	55
Leeds	63	63	62	77	64	63	59
Leicester	64	71	63	74	63	57	67
Leicestershire	69	80	72	77	69	69	72
Lewisham	73	77	71	76	72	76	70
Lincolnshire	67	86	78	86	69	67	65
Liverpool	64	75	72	78	64	64	51
Luton	66	68	70	71	69	63	56
Manchester	67	67	72	85	69	66	61
Medway	72	81	85	91	77	71	76
Merton	71	79	72	71	69	69	64
Middlesbrough	64	67	78	50	71	64	39
Milton Keynes	69	79	70	95	72	65	72
Newcastle upon Tyne	72	72	72	87	79	72	70
Newham	76	79	78	80	76	69	76
Norfolk	67	73	71	76	70	67	63
North East Lincolnshire	68	80	71	100	80	68	59
North Lincolnshire	71	83	56	83	85	71	43
North Somerset	71	66	54	80	72	72	33
North Tyneside	73	82	71	100	77	73	73
North Yorkshire	70	75	74	75	77	70	68
Northamptonshire	69	69	70	89	70	69	63
Northumberland	74	88	100	88	82	74	58
Nottingham	64	67	69	85	65	63	61
Nottinghamshire	69	75	76	86	71	68	72
Oldham	64	61	65	44	71	66	47
Oxfordshire	69	71	68	85	70	69	56
Peterborough	62	64	69	64	67	62	65
Plymouth	67	73	69	89	65	68	52
Poole	73	83	64	50	72	73	75
Portsmouth	67	74	71	92	74	66	49
Reading	68	79	66	77	66	65	71
Redbridge	76	81	72	93	75	69	69
Redcar and Cleveland	74	80	50	100	83	74	25
Richmond upon Thames	77	82	75	85	79	76	67
Rochdale	66	66	66	75	66	66	61
Rotherham	70	74	66	54	71	70	61
Rutland	69	75	83	N/A*	67	69	100
Salford	68	76	74	57	70	67	67
Sandwell	66	72	70	74	66	62	53
Sefton	68	75	55	60	69	68	45
Sheffield	68	70	69	77	65	68	61
Shropshire	68	79	75	83	68	68	67
Slough	72	80	69	100	70	62	68
Solihull	72	78	62	91	71	71	70
Somerset	72	82	80	75	76	72	64
South Gloucestershire	74	89	79	92	80	73	50
South Tyneside	72	78	78	86	58	73	72
Southampton	68	73	70	86	70	68	64
Southend-on-Sea	70	76	79	100	73	69	58
Southwark	74	81	73	92	75	75	67
St. Helens	69	82	57	86	73	69	43
Staffordshire	73	72	66	86	75	73	62
Stockport	69	66	69	86	66	70	48
Stockton-on-Tees	72	73	81	57	70	73	50
Stoke-on-Trent	66	69	69	75	73	66	51
Suffolk	68	76	74	100	70	68	64
Sunderland	71	70	90	80	72	71	67
Surrey	73	75	73	88	78	72	69
Sutton	75	89	77	87	74	72	75
Swindon	73	79	89	92	75	71	59
Tameside	67	67	71	75	71	67	70
Telford and Wrekin	71	78	74	100	69	71	50
Thurrock	72	80	81	88	72	70	70
Torbay	68	73	100	100	71	68	38
Tower Hamlets	73	75	75	85	71	68	66
Trafford	72	74	69	79	70	73	71
Wakefield	66	72	71	89	65	66	59
Walsall	65	71	66	71	65	63	47
Waltham Forest	75	81	71	94	76	74	75
Wandsworth	78	77	73	94	73	83	76
Warrington	72	83	83	100	68	72	70
Warwickshire	71	81	78	87	77	70	76
West Berkshire	71	83	82	67	78	71	63
West Sussex	66	68	58	95	68	66	51
Westminster	73	76	72	75	79	76	70
Wigan	70	62	60	69	79	70	60
Wiltshire	68	81	69	78	68	68	59
Windsor and Maidenhead	73	73	75	100	82	73	81
Wirral	68	80	92	84	73	67	64
Wokingham	75	85	82	81	73	73	65
Wolverhampton	69	77	75	73	66	66	68
Worcestershire	71	73	86	64	77	71	69
York	72	80	50	55	72	72	65

^* Not applicable Data withheld to protect confidentiality

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

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

This data shows that:

• 83% of White pupils met the expected standard in Wandsworth, compared with 57% in Leicester (a gap of 26 percentage points)
• figures for other ethnic groups are based on small numbers, so reliable generalisations can’t be made

5. By ethnicity and gender

• Location: England
• Time period: 2017/18
• Source: Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments: England 2018

Percentage of pupils meeting the expected and higher standards in writing by ethnicity and gender

	Boys		Girls
Ethnicity	Boys Expected standard	Boys Higher standard	Girls Expected standard	Girls Higher standard
All	63	12	77	20
Asian	68	14	80	22
Bangladeshi	67	13	80	21
Indian	77	19	87	29
Pakistani	61	9	75	16
Asian other	71	16	81	23
Black	65	12	78	20
Black African	67	13	80	22
Black Caribbean	57	8	74	16
Black other	63	10	76	18
Chinese	79	25	87	37
Mixed	66	14	78	22
Mixed White/Asian	71	17	83	27
Mixed White/Black African	67	14	79	21
Mixed White/Black Caribbean	57	8	73	15
Mixed other	67	15	79	23
White	63	11	76	20
White British	63	12	77	20
White Irish	64	14	77	24
Gypsy/Roma	19	1	31	2
Irish Traveller	18	1	30	2
White other	61	11	73	18
Other	59	9	71	16
Unknown	47	8	59	15

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

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

This data shows that:

• in 2017/18, 77% of girls and 63% of boys met the expected standard, while 20% of girls and 12% of boys met the higher standard
• in every ethnic group, girls were more likely than boys to meet the expected and higher standards
• girls from the Chinese and Indian ethnic groups were the most likely to reach the expected standard (both at 87%), and the higher standards (at 37% and 29% respectively)
• White Irish Traveller boys were the least likely to reach both the expected standard (at 18%) and the higher standard (at 1%, jointly with White Gypsy/Roma boys)
• among White British pupils, 77% of girls and 63% of boys met the expected standard, while 20% of girls and 12% of boys met the higher standard
• at the expected standard, the biggest gap between girls and boys was found among Mixed White and Black Caribbean pupils (where 57% of boys and 73% of girls met the standard) and Black Caribbean pupils (where 57% of boys and 74% of girls met the standard)
• at the expected standard, the smallest gap between girls and boys was in the Chinese ethnic group, where 87% of girls and 79% of boys met the standard (a gap of 8 percentage points)
• at the higher standard, the biggest gap between girls and boys was in the Chinese ethnic groups, where 37% of girls and 25% of boys met the standard (a gap of 12 percentage points)
• at the higher standard, the smallest gap between girls and boys was in the White Gypsy/Roma and White Irish Traveller ethnic groups, where 2% of girls and 1% of boys met the standard (a gap of 1 percentage point)

6. By ethnicity, gender and eligibility for free school meals

• Location: England
• Time period: 2017/18
• Source: Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments: England 2018

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

	Boys		Girls
Ethnicity	Boys FSM	Boys Non-FSM	Girls FSM	Girls Non-FSM
All	45	66	61	79
Asian	57	69	72	81
Bangladeshi	60	69	77	80
Indian	61	77	76	87
Pakistani	55	62	69	76
Asian other	57	72	70	82
Black	59	67	72	80
Black African	62	69	74	81
Black Caribbean	49	60	66	77
Black other	58	64	68	78
Chinese	65	80	80	88
Mixed	50	69	67	81
Mixed White/Asian	52	74	69	85
Mixed White/Black African	56	69	70	81
Mixed White/Black Caribbean	44	61	64	77
Mixed other	54	70	67	82
White	41	66	58	79
White British	42	67	58	80
White Irish	33	69	52	82
Gypsy/Roma	18	19	33	30
Irish Traveller	14	24	23	39
White other	49	62	62	74
Other	50	62	63	72
Unknown	44	48	64	58

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

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

The Department for Education uses eligibility for free school meals (FSM) as an indicator of deprivation.

This data shows that:

• in every ethnic group, a higher percentage of FSM-eligible girls met the expected standard in writing than FSM-eligible boys
• 80% of FSM-eligible girls from the Chinese ethnic group met the expected standard (the highest percentage of any group of FSM-eligible children)
• 14% of FSM-eligible boys from the White Irish Traveller ethnic group met the expected standard (the lowest percentage of any group of FSM-eligible children)
• among FSM-eligible White British pupils, 58% of girls and 42% of boys met the expected standard (a gap of 16 percentage points)
• out of all FSM-eligible pupils, the biggest gap between girls and boys was in the Mixed White and Black Caribbean ethnic group, where 64% of girls and 44% of boys met the expected standard (a gap of 20 percentage points)
• the smallest gap between FSM-eligible and non-FSM eligible pupils was among White Gypsy/Roma boys, at 1 percentage point
• the largest attainment gap between FSM-eligible and non-FSM eligible pupils was found among White Irish boys, at 35 percentage points

7. By ethnicity, gender and area

• Location: England
• Time period: 2017/18
• Source: Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments: England 2018

Percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in writing by ethnicity, gender and area

	All		Asian		Black		Chinese		Mixed		White		Other
Geography	All boys	All girls	Asian boys	Asian girls	Black boys	Black girls	Chinese boys	Chinese girls	Mixed boys	Mixed girls	White boys	White girls	Other boys	Other girls
Barking and Dagenham	63	78	66	88	70	85	67	83	68	79	54	69	67	56
Barnet	68	79	74	83	65	80	84	97	72	84	66	79	67	72
Barnsley	59	75	70	60	50	80	0	100	69	68	59	76	60	100
Bath and North East Somerset	65	78	95	86	33	44	75	50	65	69	64	78	57	60
Bedford	59	73	60	66	76	82	50	100	61	69	57	75	58	44
Bexley	71	81	83	87	79	88	88	89	74	81	68	78	57	89
Birmingham	61	73	63	77	62	72	80	83	61	74	59	70	60	71
Blackburn with Darwen	61	76	63	79	50	95	100	75	67	71	58	75	71	33
Blackpool	61	73	77	84	67	33	50	100	61	87	61	73	50	86
Bolton	62	74	66	79	45	68	63	75	75	83	62	73	55	67
Bournemouth	64	78	82	89	73	100	80	80	65	78	64	77	29	69
Bracknell Forest	65	82	78	90	65	79	75	86	74	80	64	82	50	100
Bradford	60	74	63	78	44	72	100	100	63	69	58	72	48	71
Brent	61	76	69	83	59	74	100	50	63	79	60	73	51	72
Brighton and Hove	62	76	62	63	59	83	80	74	64	77	62	77	42	50
Bristol, City of	62	74	68	72	56	63	77	87	61	77	62	76	63	75
Bromley	71	80	81	89	61	78	80	92	74	79	72	80	64	88
Buckinghamshire	65	79	67	75	62	74	94	100	66	81	65	80	63	50
Bury	62	73	63	70	70	67	67	100	58	70	63	74	47	58
Calderdale	56	72	57	68	60	73	75	100	62	64	55	74	67	33
Cambridgeshire	63	74	74	81	46	76	100	88	68	79	62	74	73	73
Camden	65	76	67	80	59	74	82	78	65	78	67	74	58	74
Central Bedfordshire	67	79	69	86	67	88	89	71	69	75	67	79	64	75
Cheshire East	63	78	78	79	60	91	60	60	67	77	63	78	43	70
Cheshire West and Chester	61	75	69	82	73	67	86	100	68	82	61	75	50	82
City of London
Cornwall	58	74	56	89	N/A*	0	88	60	65	77	58	74	60	70
County Durham	67	79	67	78	40	100	73	80	69	72	67	79	50	55
Coventry	58	73	65	81	61	75	57	100	60	72	55	70	45	69
Croydon	66	79	72	82	67	80	91	92	66	78	64	78	66	76
Cumbria	62	77	92	76	0	67	86	75	61	80	62	77	70	75
Darlington	65	78	78	84	75	67	0	100	62	83	65	78	50	50
Derby	61	75	64	77	68	83	79	75	66	79	59	74	60	68
Derbyshire	64	77	70	89	58	64	93	79	65	82	64	77	58	46
Devon	62	76	59	96	17	88	80	88	64	74	62	77	58	57
Doncaster	61	77	67	75	63	95	83	89	60	85	62	76	31	82
Dorset	64	76	73	89	50	0	100	100	68	81	64	75	43	67
Dudley	59	76	57	75	58	77	75	50	56	79	59	76	62	55
Ealing	64	76	69	79	58	70	88	82	60	80	67	78	57	69
East Riding of Yorkshire	65	77	75	85	0	67	50	100	77	85	65	77	14	54
East Sussex	66	81	77	82	68	76	67	100	70	85	66	81	45	67
Enfield	63	74	77	80	62	78	100	88	73	82	61	70	66	76
Essex	66	78	81	86	66	90	72	91	69	78	65	77	58	88
Gateshead	65	79	86	91	50	94	71	100	77	85	64	78	50	59
Gloucestershire	63	76	66	82	62	74	89	100	66	82	63	75	54	44
Greenwich	70	82	78	88	74	87	85	96	62	83	66	76	70	73
Hackney	72	83	80	86	70	86	91	94	75	80	69	83	77	76
Halton	60	74	50	N/A*	N/A*	100	N/A*	N/A*	74	87	60	74	0	100
Hammersmith and Fulham	70	78	70	88	62	72	100	83	70	80	73	80	68	77
Hampshire	68	80	78	86	63	81	88	96	74	81	68	80	70	75
Haringey	68	80	78	84	67	83	56	94	76	84	68	79	66	70
Harrow	69	79	77	85	54	76	60	100	66	81	64	74	54	65
Hartlepool	64	80	70	83	100	100	50	100	50	85	65	80	75	50
Havering	67	80	80	89	66	82	83	100	65	84	65	78	44	77
Herefordshire, County of	65	82	78	82	100	100	100	N/A*	75	84	65	82	57	50
Hertfordshire	66	79	73	84	68	76	89	96	68	79	65	78	68	71
Hillingdon	64	77	72	84	65	73	67	88	67	77	57	75	61	70
Hounslow	70	82	79	86	59	81	100	83	71	83	64	79	70	81
Isle of Wight	52	70	100	100	0	N/A*	100	N/A*	61	74	51	69	0	N/A*
Isles of Scilly
Islington	66	79	69	87	62	74	100	100	64	71	68	84	62	75
Kensington and Chelsea	69	82	80	90	56	80	60	N/A*	77	84	74	83	59	80
Kent	67	80	77	90	78	90	65	84	74	84	65	79	65	75
Kingston upon Hull, City of	61	74	95	70	68	59	100	100	65	68	61	75	60	65
Kingston upon Thames	68	79	67	82	55	77	86	100	68	79	70	79	66	75
Kirklees	60	75	62	78	62	64	88	57	48	73	60	74	67	65
Knowsley	57	74	78	79	56	75	100	100	57	77	56	74	60	80
Lambeth	70	80	71	84	68	81	83	90	71	82	71	80	68	75
Lancashire	63	76	63	75	67	77	74	64	62	77	63	76	57	52
Leeds	57	69	57	70	57	66	79	75	56	72	57	70	52	67
Leicester	59	69	66	76	57	69	64	88	56	70	51	63	61	72
Leicestershire	62	77	72	86	66	78	63	93	63	75	61	76	72	71
Lewisham	68	78	71	85	64	78	64	88	69	75	72	80	62	77
Lincolnshire	60	74	80	92	67	87	60	100	63	74	60	74	58	82
Liverpool	57	72	67	81	65	79	70	87	57	72	57	71	41	63
Luton	58	75	60	77	59	81	67	75	59	80	57	70	46	65
Manchester	61	73	61	74	66	80	83	87	61	77	60	73	56	66
Medway	66	79	74	90	83	86	88	100	72	83	63	78	80	72
Merton	66	76	74	84	67	76	69	75	62	76	64	74	59	70
Middlesbrough	58	71	60	74	71	85	67	0	64	78	58	71	39	38
Milton Keynes	61	77	73	86	66	74	100	88	63	83	58	74	67	77
Newcastle upon Tyne	67	78	64	82	63	80	90	83	76	82	67	77	64	76
Newham	71	82	74	84	71	85	78	82	71	81	65	75	73	80
Norfolk	61	74	69	76	64	76	68	82	65	74	60	75	58	70
North East Lincolnshire	61	76	89	67	50	80	100	100	79	81	61	76	50	71
North Lincolnshire	62	79	78	88	75	40	100	75	84	86	62	80	38	50
North Somerset	65	78	67	65	67	43	67	100	65	77	65	79	0	50
North Tyneside	68	79	81	84	75	67	100	100	67	86	67	78	78	67
North Yorkshire	63	77	74	76	58	91	67	80	68	87	64	77	59	76
Northamptonshire	63	75	66	72	63	78	88	92	66	74	62	76	53	78
Northumberland	67	82	93	83	100	100	100	75	76	89	67	82	43	80
Nottingham	58	71	61	75	63	77	71	100	59	71	56	71	58	65
Nottinghamshire	61	77	70	80	70	81	83	90	63	79	60	77	70	73
Oldham	56	72	53	70	58	70	46	33	58	81	59	73	50	44
Oxfordshire	62	76	64	78	60	74	80	92	60	81	62	76	44	69
Peterborough	55	70	57	71	69	69	33	88	56	77	54	70	58	72
Plymouth	60	76	50	100	71	67	82	100	55	76	60	75	39	67
Poole	68	79	79	87	67	60	100	0	76	67	67	80	75	75
Portsmouth	60	75	69	80	72	71	86	100	67	79	59	74	31	80
Reading	64	72	77	82	63	71	83	71	64	68	61	69	61	85
Redbridge	72	81	77	86	72	73	88	100	71	79	65	74	63	79
Redcar and Cleveland	69	80	67	100	67	0	100	N/A*	87	76	69	80	33	0
Richmond upon Thames	71	83	77	89	79	72	80	90	74	84	71	82	58	82
Rochdale	58	74	59	73	61	70	57	100	62	73	58	75	56	68
Rotherham	64	76	66	82	48	81	50	60	61	82	64	76	46	73
Rutland	60	80	80	67	100	67	N/A*	N/A*	50	100	60	80	N/A*	100
Salford	60	75	63	88	70	79	50	67	63	77	59	75	61	74
Sandwell	59	72	67	77	65	75	67	82	54	76	55	69	41	60
Sefton	60	76	63	94	50	60	100	0	54	87	60	76	27	64
Sheffield	62	74	64	77	59	79	81	75	59	72	63	74	58	65
Shropshire	60	75	71	84	67	80	100	50	62	73	60	75	67	N/A*
Slough	64	80	74	86	58	83	100	100	63	79	53	71	59	78
Solihull	65	79	67	89	53	72	86	100	68	74	64	78	77	60
Somerset	66	79	68	97	67	89	83	67	73	80	66	79	45	82
South Gloucestershire	66	82	85	93	75	83	80	100	70	88	65	81	40	60
South Tyneside	65	80	75	80	67	83	100	83	52	64	65	81	80	63
Southampton	60	77	67	80	66	75	73	100	62	78	59	78	58	70
Southend-on-Sea	62	78	80	73	74	85	100	100	64	82	61	78	64	50
Southwark	68	81	75	86	67	80	89	95	66	83	70	81	63	70
St. Helens	62	77	67	92	60	50	100	80	56	84	62	76	13	83
Staffordshire	67	80	64	82	56	80	81	89	65	83	67	80	42	72
Stockport	62	76	64	68	53	82	80	89	62	69	63	76	36	67
Stockton-on-Tees	66	80	68	80	76	92	40	100	67	73	66	80	50	50
Stoke-on-Trent	60	73	63	76	68	70	77	71	68	79	59	72	43	57
Suffolk	60	76	68	85	63	81	100	100	59	82	60	76	54	79
Sunderland	64	79	67	75	88	92	82	75	63	82	64	79	50	75
Surrey	66	80	70	81	62	81	92	82	72	84	66	79	57	81
Sutton	68	82	84	93	68	89	82	92	68	80	65	79	58	90
Swindon	67	79	71	87	79	98	100	83	69	82	66	77	45	73
Tameside	58	76	63	72	64	78	75	75	60	83	57	76	63	73
Telford and Wrekin	65	77	68	86	66	81	100	100	66	73	65	77	50	N/A*
Thurrock	67	78	79	81	80	83	75	100	65	81	63	77	75	64
Torbay	60	77	71	75	N/A*	100	100	100	63	82	60	77	40	33
Tower Hamlets	67	79	68	81	68	81	78	89	69	72	62	75	64	69
Trafford	67	78	68	80	68	71	70	89	62	76	67	79	78	68
Wakefield	61	73	68	75	70	72	92	86	63	67	60	73	53	67
Walsall	57	73	62	81	58	77	67	73	55	75	56	71	30	63
Waltham Forest	69	82	76	86	64	79	88	100	70	82	68	82	73	77
Wandsworth	74	83	70	85	68	79	83	100	70	77	79	87	79	71
Warrington	65	80	81	86	75	100	100	100	61	74	65	80	64	78
Warwickshire	64	79	74	87	70	82	85	90	69	87	63	78	79	70
West Berkshire	64	79	73	91	91	73	50	100	70	83	63	78	75	58
West Sussex	59	74	59	76	53	63	90	100	60	77	60	74	38	68
Westminster	68	79	71	82	70	74	67	83	74	86	69	84	64	76
Wigan	62	78	75	56	33	84	64	80	71	87	62	79	59	61
Wiltshire	62	75	81	81	60	79	71	100	62	75	61	75	56	62
Windsor and Maidenhead	66	81	68	77	67	88	100	100	70	93	66	81	69	92
Wirral	60	75	76	84	89	100	75	100	66	83	60	75	80	50
Wokingham	70	80	81	88	70	93	75	87	70	76	67	79	63	67
Wolverhampton	63	76	72	84	71	78	75	67	58	74	59	74	62	73
Worcestershire	65	77	67	80	80	92	56	80	72	83	65	77	75	60
York	67	76	75	88	N/A*	50	60	50	70	75	67	77	54	86

^* Not applicable Data withheld to protect confidentiality

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Writing results for 6 to 7 year olds By ethnicity, gender and area Summary

This data shows that:

• in 2017/18, a higher percentage of girls than boys met the expected standard in writing in all local authorities
• among White pupils, the biggest attainment gap was in Rutland, where 80% of girls and 60% of boys met the expected standard
• figures for other ethnic groups are based on small numbers, so reliable generalisations can’t be made

8. Methodology

Key stage 1 data is submitted to the Department for Education by local authorities. Data was collected from 16,400 schools.

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

Some pupils are eligible for free school meals (FSM) if their parents receive a qualifying benefit. We refer to these children as ‘FSM-eligible’. In 2017/18, there were 91,174 FSM-eligible pupils in year 2 (14% of all pupils).

FSM eligibility is used as an indicator of disadvantage. However, not all eligible parents apply for FSM and some families who do not reach the eligibility threshold may still be experiencing deprivation.

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

Pupils with no valid key stage 1 outcome for a subject are excluded from the calculations for that subject. They do not appear in the number of eligible pupils or in the outcome percentages.

For writing the valid outcomes are:

• below the pre-key stage standard
• foundations for the expected standard
• working towards the expected standard
• working at the expected standard
• working at greater depth within the expected standard
• absent
• disapplied
• maladministration

Suppression rules and disclosure control

Figures for the Isles of Scilly and City of London are suppressed as these local authorities have one school each. The Department for Education (DfE) does not publish school-level information for phonics.

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

Rounding

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

Related publications

Schools, pupils and their characteristics: June 2018.

Quality and methodology information

9. Data sources

Source

Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments: England 2018

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 2018 key stage 1 national curriculum assessments. The results are used to monitor pupils’ attainment in reading, writing, maths and science.

10. Download the data

Key Stage 1 Writing National - Spreadsheet (csv) 73 KB

Key Stage 1 Writing Local Authorities - Spreadsheet (csv) 533 KB

Key Stage 1 Writing Local Authorities - Spreadsheet (csv) 533 KB

Publication release date: 29 July 2019

full page history

1. 29 July 2019 Updated with the latest available data (for 2017/18).

From: Department for Education

Previous editions:

1. 14 May 2019
2. 4 March 2018

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