Grammar, punctuation and spelling results for 10 to 11 year olds

Published 4 June 2019

Last updated 19 September 2019 - see all updates

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Contents

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

• Location: England
• Time period: 2017/18
• Source: Key stage 2 statistics

Percentage of pupils meeting the expected and higher standards in grammar, punctuation and spelling, and average scaled score, 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 (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Grammar, punctuation and spelling results for 10 to 11 year olds 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

• Location: England
• Time period: 2017/18
• Source: Key stage 2 statistics

Percentage of pupils meeting the expected and higher standards in grammar, punctuation and spelling, and average scaled score, 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 (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Grammar, punctuation and spelling results for 10 to 11 year olds 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. By ethnicity and area

• Location: England
• Time period: 2017/18
• Source: Key stage 2 statistics

Percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling by ethnicity and area

	All		Asian		Black		Chinese		Mixed		White
Local Authority	All %	All Number	Asian %	Asian Number	Black %	Black Number	Chinese %	Chinese Number	Mixed %	Mixed Number	White %	White Number
Barking and Dagenham	83	2,824	92	633	85	937	100	7	83	221	76	959
Barnet	85	3,384	91	396	82	408	98	54	84	345	86	1,811
Barnsley	77	2,093	88	15	82	18	100	4	81	43	77	1,993
Bath and North East Somerset	78	1,478	82	23	75	9	57	4	73	73	78	1,355
Bedford	71	1,436	76	238	75	96	100	7	73	145	69	926
Bexley	82	2,609	93	234	88	536	97	29	79	183	79	1,565
Birmingham	77	12,070	82	4,643	79	1,620	95	62	76	1,007	73	3,988
Blackburn with Darwen	81	1,761	83	833	79	26	100	5	83	53	79	834
Blackpool	76	1,260	77	24	100	5	89	8	73	40	76	1,177
Bolton	80	3,004	85	757	71	161	92	12	88	135	78	1,892
Bournemouth	78	1,298	91	62	89	17	92	11	84	90	77	1,093
Bracknell Forest	77	1,062	93	80	87	40	100	3	82	68	75	858
Bradford	77	5,866	81	2,634	72	87	100	3	75	310	73	2,703
Brent	80	2,929	84	878	79	745	100	6	76	197	81	778
Brighton and Hove	78	2,048	86	79	77	41	100	11	78	231	77	1,621
Bristol, City of	75	3,498	74	284	74	414	88	23	74	270	76	2,457
Bromley	84	3,076	93	182	84	283	86	25	86	352	83	2,153
Buckinghamshire	79	4,853	84	865	79	131	90	18	80	357	78	3,403
Bury	79	1,812	80	270	79	44	80	4	80	94	79	1,368
Calderdale	76	2,005	79	319	88	14	50	1	68	64	76	1,590
Cambridgeshire	75	5,109	83	232	83	70	100	39	85	306	74	4,372
Camden	85	1,272	86	266	83	275	100	7	87	148	84	492
Central Bedfordshire	74	2,445	85	71	84	76	85	11	78	167	73	2,089
Cheshire East	82	3,311	87	62	89	17	87	13	81	128	82	3,057
Cheshire West and Chester	79	2,994	86	51	73	11	93	14	86	95	78	2,809
City of London	86	25	100	5	50	1	N/A*	N/A*	67	2	87	13
Cornwall	73	4,228	78	21	83	5	78	7	79	94	73	4,051
County Durham	80	4,437	94	33	75	12	77	10	87	62	80	4,286
Coventry	79	3,322	88	724	85	458	87	13	78	229	76	1,834
Croydon	81	3,593	89	633	79	1,072	100	23	82	547	78	1,212
Cumbria	78	3,987	89	32	86	6	86	12	83	52	78	3,835
Darlington	80	982	83	24	100	5	100	3	83	24	79	919
Derby	75	2,399	84	486	84	118	93	14	79	220	71	1,510
Derbyshire	77	6,332	91	85	74	23	81	21	75	170	77	5,978
Devon	76	5,951	91	39	81	13	79	11	82	146	76	5,660
Doncaster	75	2,613	78	81	62	28	94	15	73	76	75	2,378
Dorset	75	3,243	81	30	93	13	100	9	77	117	75	3,043
Dudley	73	2,676	78	337	80	75	80	8	77	177	72	2,031
Ealing	85	3,467	87	1,056	83	538	93	14	85	327	83	991
East Riding of Yorkshire	79	2,802	86	12	100	2	50	1	91	61	79	2,709
East Sussex	74	3,951	88	105	68	23	83	10	75	186	74	3,569
Enfield	79	3,509	90	352	81	906	96	23	79	341	76	1,610
Essex	78	12,622	93	413	87	462	92	67	79	619	77	10,800
Gateshead	84	1,761	79	30	94	32	77	10	79	26	84	1,608
Gloucestershire	77	4,966	86	172	83	75	85	11	74	239	76	4,390
Greenwich	83	2,690	89	218	88	1,024	88	37	85	285	77	1,041
Hackney	84	2,108	90	279	82	755	95	19	81	209	84	706
Halton	75	1,097	100	3	75	3	N/A*	N/A*	85	34	75	1,045
Hammersmith and Fulham	86	1,126	91	81	83	292	100	2	87	152	87	454
Hampshire	79	11,399	90	376	87	155	98	49	86	489	78	10,216
Haringey	82	2,506	92	164	79	656	87	34	85	274	81	1,197
Harrow	88	2,412	92	1,240	86	253	93	13	86	177	82	605
Hartlepool	79	892	96	26	100	2	50	2	92	11	78	849
Havering	82	2,439	91	186	87	304	94	16	86	151	80	1,741
Herefordshire, County of	79	1,492	100	7	67	2	100	3	72	31	79	1,435
Hertfordshire	80	10,939	90	941	82	486	88	59	83	823	79	8,452
Hillingdon	83	3,044	89	903	86	343	70	7	86	391	77	1,143
Hounslow	84	2,486	90	826	86	321	100	17	81	204	79	807
Isle of Wight	70	921	72	13	50	1	100	4	74	28	70	872
Isles of Scilly	82	28	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*	100	1	82	27
Islington	81	1,505	83	124	80	350	100	10	85	246	79	668
Kensington and Chelsea	89	851	92	34	88	141	100	4	85	150	89	325
Kent	76	13,153	90	576	90	386	92	44	79	724	75	11,198
Kingston upon Hull, City of	78	2,422	91	42	68	42	100	6	78	102	78	2,164
Kingston upon Thames	84	1,505	89	272	67	39	92	23	84	138	82	882
Kirklees	76	4,007	79	1,130	75	85	92	11	68	233	76	2,501
Knowsley	75	1,290	98	43	94	15	100	5	83	33	74	1,190
Lambeth	84	2,479	86	121	81	1,049	87	13	85	359	85	782
Lancashire	78	10,679	80	1,287	76	54	97	32	80	360	78	8,871
Leeds	75	6,706	79	849	75	504	95	52	75	393	74	4,756
Leicester	77	3,432	83	1,579	78	380	92	12	75	236	68	1,097
Leicestershire	79	5,965	90	517	85	68	94	30	78	269	78	5,028
Lewisham	81	2,733	87	220	80	1,061	89	40	82	385	79	872
Lincolnshire	74	5,709	93	65	74	26	100	16	73	172	74	5,372
Liverpool	75	3,710	87	153	77	191	88	63	77	193	75	2,970
Luton	77	2,393	81	1,171	77	263	100	4	79	201	72	712
Manchester	78	5,127	77	1,173	83	1,015	87	46	79	438	77	2,110
Medway	72	2,361	87	130	88	180	89	8	78	174	69	1,835
Merton	84	1,943	91	500	83	283	89	17	84	198	82	889
Middlesbrough	77	1,378	86	150	75	24	100	2	84	74	76	1,100
Milton Keynes	79	2,797	90	397	83	477	86	18	83	229	76	1,615
Newcastle upon Tyne	81	2,242	85	348	81	115	92	22	84	98	80	1,599
Newham	88	4,027	91	1,912	88	975	100	14	90	260	79	603
Norfolk	71	6,211	85	99	77	67	73	22	76	197	70	5,728
North East Lincolnshire	76	1,441	93	13	100	5	100	2	84	48	76	1,357
North Lincolnshire	77	1,501	84	64	43	3	N/A*	N/A*	76	37	77	1,375
North Somerset	74	1,774	85	22	100	8	75	3	76	58	74	1,671
North Tyneside	79	1,750	85	51	93	25	100	7	79	49	78	1,611
North Yorkshire	74	4,340	92	79	57	12	92	11	74	110	74	4,091
Northamptonshire	75	6,743	84	351	80	378	93	26	75	380	74	5,540
Northumberland	79	2,636	87	47	100	6	50	1	85	46	79	2,525
Nottingham	77	2,653	83	489	80	300	100	17	75	339	74	1,421
Nottinghamshire	78	7,059	90	245	86	77	77	30	79	340	77	6,302
Oldham	79	2,648	82	937	83	90	100	7	82	120	77	1,457
Oxfordshire	77	5,432	81	330	77	133	80	20	76	332	77	4,501
Peterborough	71	1,964	77	394	78	87	83	5	69	115	69	1,304
Plymouth	75	2,174	88	28	82	23	94	15	76	66	75	2,004
Poole	74	1,042	92	34	67	6	N/A*	N/A*	82	54	73	935
Portsmouth	72	1,546	86	127	81	55	90	9	80	77	70	1,237
Reading	77	1,254	84	274	82	138	80	4	72	125	74	682
Redbridge	84	3,277	87	1,817	80	353	89	17	82	282	79	730
Redcar and Cleveland	82	1,296	67	6	100	3	N/A*	N/A*	84	27	82	1,253
Richmond upon Thames	90	1,922	89	149	94	61	100	16	90	199	90	1,428
Rochdale	79	2,287	82	591	84	102	80	4	77	113	78	1,445
Rotherham	74	2,415	82	215	83	44	75	3	70	64	74	2,064
Rutland	82	322	80	4	0	0	100	1	86	12	82	300
Salford	80	2,272	93	84	86	131	86	6	83	179	79	1,772
Sandwell	78	3,367	84	1,088	83	367	100	13	76	276	74	1,532
Sefton	81	2,356	91	32	91	10	100	3	82	49	81	2,237
Sheffield	74	4,511	83	625	78	299	93	26	72	323	73	3,075
Shropshire	78	2,291	96	24	40	2	100	6	83	64	78	2,162
Slough	81	1,834	89	964	81	157	100	1	76	161	69	457
Solihull	80	2,119	85	247	83	45	100	6	82	191	78	1,598
Somerset	74	4,137	85	55	90	19	84	16	75	108	74	3,907
South Gloucestershire	79	2,452	90	100	90	46	100	12	83	134	78	2,130
South Tyneside	80	1,297	87	52	90	9	100	2	88	29	80	1,187
Southampton	77	1,995	83	266	85	78	83	10	77	135	76	1,473
Southend-on-Sea	81	1,693	88	128	89	81	75	9	78	101	80	1,336
Southwark	81	2,570	88	154	81	1,146	82	32	79	275	81	742
St. Helens	78	1,595	76	19	64	7	100	5	74	31	78	1,524
Staffordshire	78	7,375	77	300	86	63	92	22	79	241	78	6,690
Stockport	80	2,665	87	200	76	35	89	16	81	158	79	2,209
Stockton-on-Tees	80	1,922	87	104	91	31	91	10	82	45	79	1,719
Stoke-on-Trent	74	2,274	77	375	85	86	94	16	73	111	73	1,658
Suffolk	72	5,581	86	126	77	47	67	6	77	345	72	4,947
Sunderland	80	2,541	85	121	89	24	69	9	82	41	79	2,335
Surrey	82	9,923	88	764	83	159	95	53	84	601	81	8,167
Sutton	86	1,957	95	410	86	154	93	26	86	191	83	1,127
Swindon	79	2,196	90	270	87	77	100	9	78	122	77	1,693
Tameside	78	2,192	82	274	84	52	75	9	83	103	77	1,722
Telford and Wrekin	79	1,766	84	107	76	64	100	7	82	102	79	1,481
Thurrock	79	1,860	88	107	90	332	100	16	81	112	75	1,237
Torbay	73	1,014	81	13	67	2	100	5	80	35	73	950
Tower Hamlets	84	2,719	87	1,795	79	278	95	18	77	158	78	358
Trafford	86	2,513	92	390	84	104	97	37	85	175	85	1,714
Wakefield	74	2,856	79	132	87	41	91	10	86	111	73	2,539
Walsall	77	2,775	85	731	82	152	89	17	81	182	74	1,656
Waltham Forest	82	2,644	84	740	80	511	97	36	86	302	80	960
Wandsworth	82	1,997	87	377	78	468	100	11	80	249	84	815
Warrington	82	2,067	90	64	79	11	67	8	85	58	82	1,907
Warwickshire	79	4,807	91	309	75	63	100	18	82	227	78	4,130
West Berkshire	76	1,348	90	60	75	15	88	7	82	75	75	1,175
West Sussex	76	6,628	87	368	71	100	95	20	83	343	75	5,686
Westminster	87	1,236	91	206	88	213	88	23	88	138	86	313
Wigan	81	2,908	89	49	81	30	83	10	74	60	82	2,727
Wiltshire	76	3,909	90	71	71	42	78	7	80	143	75	3,559
Windsor and Maidenhead	81	1,230	85	198	93	13	86	6	81	102	80	880
Wirral	76	2,846	85	97	82	14	100	17	79	92	75	2,606
Wokingham	83	1,636	95	262	78	51	100	20	81	101	80	1,182
Wolverhampton	81	2,622	87	649	83	340	100	7	79	298	78	1,287
Worcestershire	74	4,577	79	189	69	18	90	9	73	165	73	4,153
York	77	1,466	85	34	92	11	89	8	75	39	77	1,355

^* Not applicable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Grammar, punctuation and spelling results for 10 to 11 year olds By ethnicity and area Summary

Figures broken down by ethnicity and local authority are often based on small numbers of pupils. As a result, they are likely to change from year to year. The Isle of Scilly had 28 pupils in year 6, and the City of London had 25. Please treat the results for these 2 local authorities with particular caution.

The data shows that:

• in 2017/18, 90% of pupils in Richmond Upon Thames met the expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling, the highest percentage out of all local authorities
• 70% of pupils in Isle of Wight met the expected standard, the lowest percentage out of all local authorities

5. 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

6. Data sources

Source

Key stage 2 statistics

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.

7. Download the data

KS2 GPS Local Authority - Spreadsheet (csv) 162 KB

GPS attainment for key stage 2 - Spreadsheet (csv) 44 KB

Publication release date: 4 June 2019

Updated: 19 September 2019

full page history

1. 19 September 2019 Updated to include data broken down by ethnicity and area (local authority).
2. 4 June 2019 Updated with the latest available data (for 2017/18).

From: Department for Education

Previous editions:

1. 14 May 2019
2. 5 March 2018

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