Half of five-year-old boys 'failing to pick up basics'

December 17 2010

New figures from the Department for Education show that 53.1 per cent of five-year-old boys are struggling to pick up the basics at school.

It was revealed that one in six cannot write their own name, compared to 6.9 per cent of girls.

Furthermore, statistics show that almost ten per cent of five-year-old boys are unable to say the letters of the alphabet.

Figures also revealed that nine per cent cannot do simple addition, compared to 6.1 per cent of girls.

A spokesman for the Department for Education said: "It's good news that the number of young children reaching a good level of development has increased this year, and the professionals working hard to help raise standards in the early years should feel proud of their work."

In related news, it was revealed this week that girls are also outperforming boys in their GCSE exams, with a higher proportion of female pupils gaining five or more A* to C-grades.

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