Half of pupils who get low grades in GCSEs already judged to be behind at age 5, study finds

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “The forgotten fifth of pupils leaving school lacking basic English and maths skills is one of education’s biggest scandals,” Professor Lee Elliot Major, co-author of the research paper, said. Responding to the findings, shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson accused the Conservatives of “failing our children” by making early years support “increasingly unavailable and unaffordable”. The forgotten fifth of pupils leaving school lacking basic English and maths skills is one of education’s biggest scandals Professor Lee Elliot Major Labour MP Ms Phillipson said: “High equality early years education is essential to boosting outcomes for children, but under the Conservatives early years support is increasingly unavailable and unaffordable, putting this essential education out of reach of more families.” She vowed that a Labour government would tackle low literacy and numeracy and would end tax breaks for private schools “to invest in driving up standards across all schools for every child”. “We should also consider introducing a basic threshold qualification for functional literacy and numeracy skills that all school leavers would be expected to pass.” Dr Sam Parsons, an academic at the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies and co-author of the study, said: “Poor performance in the early years together with socio-economic disadvantage are clear risk factors for poor performance in GCSE English language and maths examinations, which are in turn increasingly crucial for post-16 transitions.” A spokesperson for the Department of Education said: “The recently published schools white paper sets out our ambition for 90 per cent of children to reach the expected standards in reading, writing and maths by 2030.