The Department for Education has warned that thousands of seven-year-olds are falling behind in the 3Rs following the publication of teacher assessment scores.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said that although many children were well taught and making the grade in the key subjects of reading, writing and maths, too many were struggling.

The provisional statistics show that more than 83,000 seven-year-olds have a reading age no better than a five-year-old, almost 106,000 cannot write to the level expected of a seven-year-old and more than 58,000 fail to make the grade in maths.

Mr Gibb commented on the figures, “many children are doing well, but it is worrying that there are still so many who are behind just three years into their school careers. Success in later life is founded on an understanding of the 3Rs in the first few years of school. Problems must be identified at a young age and rectified before it is too late.”

“For instance, in reading, it is the method of systematic synthetic phonics which is proven to help all pupils improve, especially the weakest. That is why from next summer teachers will check how six-year-olds are reading, and will then be able to give extra help to those who need it so they become strong readers.”

Top local authorities

The top local authorities for percentage of pupils achieving Level 2 (considered to be the minimum standard expected) or above in reading are:

• Rutland, and Windsor and Maidenhead (92%)
• Richmond-upon-Thames, Solihull, Bath and North East Somerset, Wokingham, and West Berkshire (91%)
• Kingston-upon-Thames, and Northumberland (90%)

The top local authorities for percentage of pupils achieving Level 2 or above in writing are:

• Rutland (91%)
• Windsor and Maidenhead (90%)
• Richmond-upon-Thames (89%)
• Bath and North East Somerset, West Berkshire, and Wokingham (88%)
• Solihull, Central Bedfordshire and Northumberland (87%)

The top local authorities for percentage of pupils achieving Level 2 or above in maths are:

• Isle of Wight, and Windsor and Maidenhead (95%)
• Wokingham, Richmond-upon-Thames, Rutland, Bath and North East Somerset, Solihull, and West Berkshire (94%)
• Surrey, Hampshire, Derbyshire and Central Bedfordshire (93%)