Grammar, punctuation and spelling attainment for children aged 10 to 11 (key stage 2)
Published
This page has been archived.
It has been replaced by
School results for 10 to 11 year olds.
There is a new version of this page. View the latest version.
1. Main facts and figures
- in 2017/18, 78% of pupils met the expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling by the end of key stage 2 (when they are usually 10 or 11 years old)
- 34% of pupils met the higher standard
- out of all ethnic groups, pupils from the Chinese group were the most likely to meet both the expected and higher standards
- White Gypsy/Roma pupils were the least likely to meet both the expected and higher standards
- girls were more likely than boys to meet both the expected and higher standards in all ethnic groups
- girls from the Chinese ethnic group had the highest average scaled score, at 112 (compared with an average of 106)
- White Gypsy/Roma boys (94) and girls (96) had the lowest average scaled scores
Things you need to know
In 2017/18, there were 619,654 pupils assessed for grammar, spelling and punctuation at state-funded schools in England, and ethnicity was known for 614,091 (99%) of them.
Of those whose ethnicity was known, 75% were White, 11% were Asian, 6% were Black, 6% were Mixed, 0.4% were Chinese and 2% were from the Other ethnic group.
Pupil numbers for key stage 2 vary between measures of attainment for different subjects. This is because pupils who don't have a valid result for a particular subject are excluded from the total. For more about valid results, see the Methodology section.
Previous versions of this page included attainment figures broken down by local authority area. The 2017/18 figures for local authorities will be added as soon as they are available.
What the data measures
This data measures the grammar, punctuation and spelling attainment of pupils at the end of key stage 2 (year 6), when children are 10 or 11 years old.
The data covers the academic year 2017/18 (September 2017 to July 2018). Download the data if you want data for the academic year 2015/16 and 2016/17.
The standards are divided into 2 categories:
- expected standard – to meet this, pupils must have achieved a ‘scaled score’ of 100 or more in their grammar, punctuation and spelling tests
- higher standard (sometimes called the ‘high score’) – to meet this, pupils must have achieved a ‘scaled score’ of 110 or more in their grammar, punctuation and spelling tests
The average scaled score measures the average attainment of pupils in key stage 2 maths tests. Results range from 80 to 120. A scaled score allows for variations in test difficulty year on year by standardising each pupil’s test results. This allows a clearer comparison between years. You can read more about scaled scores at key stage 2.
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
| Ethnicity | Expected standard | Higher standard | Average scaled score |
|---|---|---|---|
| All | 78 | 34 | 106 |
| Asian | 84 | 48 | 109 |
| Bangladeshi | 85 | 48 | 109 |
| Indian | 89 | 58 | 110 |
| Pakistani | 80 | 39 | 107 |
| Asian other | 86 | 53 | 110 |
| Black | 81 | 40 | 107 |
| Black African | 83 | 43 | 108 |
| Black Caribbean | 74 | 28 | 105 |
| Black other | 79 | 36 | 107 |
| Chinese | 90 | 62 | 111 |
| Mixed | 80 | 37 | 107 |
| Mixed White/Asian | 84 | 45 | 108 |
| Mixed White/Black African | 81 | 36 | 107 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | 73 | 27 | 105 |
| Mixed other | 82 | 40 | 107 |
| White | 76 | 32 | 106 |
| White British | 77 | 32 | 106 |
| White Irish | 80 | 39 | 107 |
| Gypsy/Roma | 28 | 5 | 95 |
| Irish Traveller | 35 | 7 | 97 |
| White other | 75 | 34 | 106 |
| Other | 76 | 39 | 107 |
| Unknown | 64 | 28 | 105 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Grammar, punctuation and spelling attainment for children aged 10 to 11 (key stage 2) By ethnicity Summary
The data shows that:
- overall, in 2017/18, 78% of pupils met the expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling by the end of key stage 2 (when they are usually 10 or 11 years old), and 34% of pupils met the higher standard
- pupils from the Chinese ethnic group had the highest attainment out of all ethnic groups, with 90% meeting the expected standard and 62% meeting the higher standard
- White Gypsy/Roma pupils had the lowest attainment out of all ethnic groups, with 28% meeting the expected standard and 5% meeting the higher standard
- on average, pupils from the Chinese ethnic group had the highest scaled score (111) and White Gypsy/Roma pupils had the lowest (95); the overall average scaled score was 106
3. By ethnicity and gender
| Boys | Girls | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Boys Expected standard | Boys Higher standard | Boys Average scaled score | Girls Expected standard | Girls Higher standard | Girls Average scaled score |
| All | 73 | 30 | 105 | 82 | 39 | 107 |
| Asian | 81 | 43 | 108 | 87 | 53 | 110 |
| Bangladeshi | 83 | 43 | 108 | 88 | 53 | 110 |
| Indian | 86 | 53 | 110 | 92 | 63 | 111 |
| Pakistani | 76 | 34 | 106 | 83 | 44 | 108 |
| Asian other | 83 | 48 | 109 | 89 | 58 | 110 |
| Black | 77 | 35 | 106 | 85 | 45 | 108 |
| Black African | 80 | 39 | 107 | 87 | 48 | 109 |
| Black Caribbean | 68 | 23 | 104 | 81 | 34 | 106 |
| Black other | 73 | 30 | 105 | 84 | 43 | 108 |
| Chinese | 87 | 56 | 110 | 92 | 67 | 112 |
| Mixed | 75 | 32 | 106 | 84 | 42 | 108 |
| Mixed White/Asian | 80 | 40 | 107 | 88 | 49 | 109 |
| Mixed White/Black African | 77 | 31 | 106 | 85 | 42 | 108 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | 67 | 22 | 104 | 78 | 32 | 106 |
| Mixed other | 77 | 35 | 106 | 86 | 45 | 108 |
| White | 72 | 27 | 105 | 81 | 36 | 107 |
| White British | 72 | 27 | 105 | 82 | 36 | 107 |
| White Irish | 75 | 35 | 106 | 85 | 42 | 108 |
| Gypsy/Roma | 23 | 4 | 94 | 33 | 5 | 96 |
| Irish Traveller | 33 | 7 | 97 | 36 | 8 | 98 |
| White other | 71 | 30 | 105 | 78 | 38 | 107 |
| Other | 74 | 35 | 106 | 79 | 42 | 108 |
| Unknown | 60 | 25 | 104 | 68 | 32 | 106 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and gender’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and gender’ (CSV)
Summary of Grammar, punctuation and spelling attainment for children aged 10 to 11 (key stage 2) By ethnicity and gender Summary
The data shows that:
- in every ethnic group, a higher percentage of girls than boys met the expected standard and higher standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling
- overall, 82% of girls met the expected standard and 39% met the higher standard, compared with 73% and 30% of boys respectively
- girls from the Chinese and Indian ethnic groups had the highest attainment out of all ethnic groups across boys and girls, with 92% meeting the expected standard in both groups
- boys from the White Gypsy/Roma ethnic group had the lowest attainment, with 23% meeting the expected standard
- the biggest gap between girls and boys, at 13 percentage points, was found among Black Caribbean pupils, where 81% of girls and 68% of boys met the expected standard
- the smallest attainment gap, at 1 percentage point, was found among White Irish Traveller pupils, where 8% of girls and 7% of boys met the higher standard
4. Methodology
The key stage 2 datasets combine information from 3 data sources:
- prior attainment records (key stage 1 results)
- school census records
- qualification entries and results collected from awarding bodies
Key stage 2 data received from the Standard Testing Agency (STA) and is matched to school census records to identify pupils’ ethnicities.
Pupils with no valid result for a subject are excluded from the calculations for that subject and are not included in the number of eligible pupils or in the outcome percentages for that subject.
Valid results are:
- achieved the expected standard
- not achieved the expected standard
- special consideration
- absent
- working below the standard of the test
- unable to access the test
The Department for Education no longer suppress the data used in this page.
Rounding
Percentages given in charts, tables and downloads are rounded to the nearest whole number.
Related publications
Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2018.
Quality and methodology information
5. Data sources
Source
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Department for Education
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The main purpose is to measure schools' and pupils' progress and performance from key stage 1 to key stage 2, in order to monitor and improve standards and inform parental choice when applying to local schools.