Behind at five means a life time of struggling

Children who struggle with English and maths as early as at the age of five, and who are not picked up at school, are likely to suffer disadvantage throughout their lives.

More than 17,100 people born in one week in 1970 were tracked for research, conducted by the National Research Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy at the University of London’s Institute of Education.

Children who had problems learning aged five tended to fall even further behind by the age of ten.

They were more likely to leave school early, to be unemployed and have fewer job opportunities.

At home, they were more likely to become parents at a younger age, live in crowded accommodation, and be less likely to have internet access or own a computer.

Family background was also found to be a decisive factor.

Co-author of the report, Professor John Bynner, said: “If a child’s parents are interested in their education and take simple steps like reading to them at home, then they are less likely to have problems with the basics.”

"Children are already tested at school and teachers usually know if they are struggling with English or maths," he said.

"If these children don't get extra help they are likely to leave primary school without the basics, and there's little chance that they will catch up or engage with future learning opportunities."

The research bolsters the government’s moves towards “personalised learning” - providing intensive support for primary school children struggling in English and maths.

Illuminating Disadvantage

Brighter poor children losing ground

Bright children from poorer backgrounds are being overtaken by their more affluent counterparts as they grow older, a report has found.

Although declining social mobility since the 1970s has now stabilised, Britain was ranked bottom of developed countries on comparisons of social mobility.

Children’s life chances were found to be overwhelmingly determined by the income and status of their parents.

Scores in developmental tests for children from the poorest 20 per cent of families fell from 88 per cent at age three to 65 per cent at age five.

But scores for the least able children from the richest families moved up from 15 per cent at age three to 45 per cent at age five.

If this trend continued, the least bright but richer children would have overtaken the poorer but brighter children by the age of seven.

The same inequalities persisted to further education, with 44 per cent of young people from the richest 20 per cent of families obtaining a degree, compared to only 10 per cent from the poorest 20 per cent of families.

The report was produced by children’s charity the Sutton Trust and the London School of Economics.

Recent Changes in Intergenerational Mobility in the UK

Children from poor areas still way behind others

Children under five in the poorest areas of the country are achieving significantly less than their more affluent counterparts.

An annual assessment of children in their first year of school, carried out by the government, has shown that the gap between rich and poor is not closing.

Forty percent of under-fives couldn’t write their own name or sound out simple words such as ‘dog’.

The assessments looked at development in areas including maths, communication, language and literacy, and personal, social and emotional development.

Girls outperformed boys in every category, and by as much as 17 percent in writing tests.

A 15 percent difference was found between standards of children living in the 30 percent most deprived areas of Britain.

This marks no change from last year’s results and falls far short of government targets.

Children and Families Minister, Beverley Hughes said: “It is disappointing that the gap between these children has not narrowed.

“Both we and local authorities must focus our efforts on improving the life chances of children who are the most vulnerable and disadvantaged.”

Poorer children watch more TV

Poorer children watch more television, a survey by the National Consumer Council has found.

Half of children from affluent families had a television in their bedroom, rising to 97 per cent for those living in deprived areas.

The study also revealed that children living in disadvantaged areas had greater levels of unsupervised access to television and the internet compared to children from more affluent families.