Writing results for 10 to 11 year olds

Published

Last updated 19 September 2019 - see all updates

This page has been archived.
It has been replaced by School results for 10 to 11 year olds.

1. Main facts and figures

  • in 2017/18, 78% of pupils met the expected standard in writing by the end of key stage 2 (when they are usually 10 or 11 years old)
  • 20% 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
  • pupils from the Chinese ethnic group made the most progress between key stage 1 and key stage 2
  • White Irish Traveller pupils made the least progress
  • girls were more likely than boys to meet both the expected and higher standards in all ethnic groups
Things you need to know

In 2017/18, there were 619,473 pupils assessed in writing in year 6 (the final year of key stage 2) in state-funded schools in England, and ethnicity was known for 613,924 (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 another 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.

Attainment in writing is not directly comparable to previous years because of changes to writing teacher assessment frameworks. Teachers must use these frameworks to make their assessment judgements for pupils at the end of key stage 2.

What the data measures

This data measures the writing attainment of pupils at the end of key stage 2 (year 6) when pupils 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.

Standards in writing are divided into 2 categories:

  • expected standard – to meet this, pupils must have been assessed as ‘working at the expected standard’ or ‘working at a greater depth within the expected standard’
  • higher standard (sometimes called the ‘high score’) – to meet this, pupils must have been assessed as ‘working at a greater depth within the expected standard’

The progress score measures the progress that pupils make between the end of key stage 1 (primary school year 2) and the end of key stage 2 (year 6). A pupil’s results are compared with the actual achievements of other pupils nationally with similar key stage 1 attainment.

This data shows an average progress score for each ethnic group. A progress score of 0 (the national average) means pupils are making the expected amount of progress. A positive score (0.1 and above) means they are making more progress than average, and a negative score (-0.1 and below) less progress than average.

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 writing, and progress score, by ethnicity
Ethnicity Expected Higher Progress
All 78 20 0.0
Asian 81 22 0.9
Bangladeshi 82 22 1.6
Indian 86 29 1.0
Pakistani 77 15 0.6
Asian other 83 25 1.1
Black 78 18 0.6
Black African 80 20 0.9
Black Caribbean 73 13 -0.4
Black other 77 17 0.6
Chinese 89 40 2.0
Mixed 79 22 0.2
Mixed White/Asian 84 27 0.5
Mixed White/Black African 80 20 0.4
Mixed White/Black Caribbean 74 15 -0.6
Mixed other 81 24 0.6
White 78 20 -0.2
White British 79 20 -0.3
White Irish 79 25 0.1
Gypsy/Roma 32 2 -0.3
Irish Traveller 36 3 -1.1
White other 74 18 1.6
Other 74 17 1.3
Unknown 64 16 0.0

Download table data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV)

Summary of Writing 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 writing by the end of key stage 2 (when they are usually 10 or 11 years old), and 20% met the higher standard
  • pupils from the Chinese ethnic group had the highest attainment out of all ethnic groups, with 89% meeting the expected standard in writing, and 40% meeting the higher standard
  • White Gypsy/Roma pupils had the lowest attainment out of all ethnic groups, with 32% meeting the expected standard in writing and 2% meeting the higher standard
  • between key stage 1 and key stage 2, pupils from the Chinese ethnic group made the most progress in writing, with a progress score of 2.0
  • White Irish Traveller pupils made the least progress, with a progress score of -1.1

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 writing by ethnicity and gender
Boys Girls
Ethnicity Boys Expected Boys Higher Boys Progress score Girls Expected Girls Higher Girls Progress score
All 72 15 -0.8 84 25 0.8
Asian 77 16 0.3 86 27 1.5
Bangladeshi 78 16 1.0 87 27 2.1
Indian 83 23 0.4 90 35 1.5
Pakistani 72 11 0.0 82 19 1.2
Asian other 79 19 0.5 87 31 1.7
Black 72 14 -0.1 84 23 1.3
Black African 75 15 0.3 85 24 1.5
Black Caribbean 64 9 -1.3 82 18 0.5
Black other 69 11 -0.2 84 22 1.5
Chinese 85 31 1.2 93 48 2.8
Mixed 73 16 -0.6 86 27 1.0
Mixed White/Asian 79 22 -0.1 89 33 1.2
Mixed White/Black African 74 14 -0.4 86 26 1.2
Mixed White/Black Caribbean 66 10 -1.6 82 20 0.4
Mixed other 75 18 -0.2 87 30 1.4
White 72 14 -1.0 84 25 0.7
White British 72 15 -1.1 85 25 0.5
White Irish 73 19 -0.9 85 30 1.0
Gypsy/Roma 26 2 -1.1 38 2 0.6
Irish Traveller 32 2 -1.8 42 4 -0.5
White other 69 13 0.8 80 23 2.4
Other 69 14 0.8 78 21 1.9
Unknown 58 12 -0.9 70 20 0.9

Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and gender’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and gender’ (CSV)

Summary of Writing results for 10 to 11 year olds By ethnicity and gender Summary

The data shows that:

  • overall, in 2017/18, 84% of girls and 72% of boys met the expected standard in writing by the end of key stage 2 (when they are usually 10 or 11 years old)
  • 25% of girls and 15% of boys met the higher standard
  • girls were more likely to meet the expected and higher standards than boys in every ethnic group
  • overall, girls made above average progress in writing between key stage 1 and key stage 2 (with a progress score of 0.8), while boys made below average progress (with a progress score of -0.8)
  • girls from the Chinese ethnic group had the highest attainment of all of the ethnic groups across boys and girls, with 93% meeting the expected standard and 48% met the higher standard
  • girls from the Chinese ethnic group also made the most progress between key stage 1 and key stage 2, with a progress score of 2.8
  • White Gypsy/Roma boys had the lowest attainment out of all ethnic groups, with 26% of them meeting the expected standard
  • White Irish Traveller boys made the least progress between key stage 1 and key stage 2, with a progress score of -1.8

4. By ethnicity and area

Location:
England
Time period:
2017/18
Source:
Key stage 2 statistics
Percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in writing 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 79 2,703 85 588 82 901 86 6 82 219 74 926
Barnet 82 3,249 86 376 77 382 98 54 79 323 83 1,756
Barnsley 79 2,152 94 16 86 19 100 4 87 46 79 2,046
Bath and North East Somerset 79 1,492 82 23 42 5 71 5 74 74 79 1,370
Bedford 71 1,438 73 229 64 82 100 7 68 136 72 959
Bexley 83 2,654 91 230 86 525 97 29 80 187 82 1,624
Birmingham 76 11,809 78 4,453 76 1,547 88 57 75 990 74 4,031
Blackburn with Darwen 78 1,699 81 808 82 27 100 5 77 49 76 800
Blackpool 77 1,277 77 24 100 5 89 8 73 40 77 1,194
Bolton 80 3,018 84 748 69 156 92 12 85 129 80 1,927
Bournemouth 82 1,352 94 64 95 18 92 11 88 94 80 1,138
Bracknell Forest 78 1,067 88 75 80 37 100 3 80 66 77 873
Bradford 76 5,842 80 2,609 71 86 100 3 75 313 73 2,703
Brent 76 2,767 79 833 74 695 83 5 74 190 79 750
Brighton and Hove 80 2,110 89 82 77 41 91 10 80 238 80 1,673
Bristol, City of 78 3,602 72 276 72 404 92 24 76 275 80 2,577
Bromley 87 3,177 91 178 84 282 90 26 86 348 88 2,261
Buckinghamshire 78 4,784 81 827 79 131 90 18 78 351 78 3,381
Bury 78 1,793 75 252 77 43 100 5 85 100 78 1,363
Calderdale 74 1,949 72 290 81 13 50 1 67 63 75 1,565
Cambridgeshire 75 5,089 78 216 74 62 95 37 80 288 75 4,400
Camden 82 1,232 83 256 78 259 100 7 83 141 83 489
Central Bedfordshire 78 2,571 88 74 81 74 92 12 79 169 78 2,212
Cheshire East 80 3,229 86 61 74 14 87 13 78 123 80 2,986
Cheshire West and Chester 75 2,860 76 45 73 11 87 13 84 92 75 2,682
City of London 90 26 100 5 100 2 N/A* N/A* 67 2 87 13
Cornwall 77 4,451 74 20 100 6 78 7 87 103 77 4,270
County Durham 81 4,476 89 31 69 11 77 10 87 62 80 4,329
Coventry 77 3,231 83 687 80 432 73 11 76 223 75 1,811
Croydon 80 3,555 87 618 77 1,049 100 23 80 533 79 1,226
Cumbria 80 4,118 92 33 71 5 86 12 89 56 80 3,963
Darlington 82 1,009 93 27 80 4 100 3 93 27 81 941
Derby 74 2,389 80 466 82 115 87 13 81 223 72 1,523
Derbyshire 79 6,478 86 80 77 24 77 20 77 175 79 6,128
Devon 78 6,053 88 38 81 13 86 12 86 154 77 5,754
Doncaster 77 2,708 76 79 58 26 88 14 79 82 78 2,473
Dorset 76 3,264 76 28 86 12 89 8 82 125 75 3,061
Dudley 77 2,803 76 330 78 73 90 9 76 176 77 2,164
Ealing 79 3,242 81 978 76 495 93 14 79 306 80 951
East Riding of Yorkshire 79 2,799 71 10 100 2 50 1 91 61 79 2,709
East Sussex 79 4,217 90 108 65 22 100 12 80 198 79 3,812
Enfield 79 3,499 87 342 79 885 92 22 80 346 77 1,630
Essex 80 12,829 91 405 86 457 90 66 82 638 79 11,005
Gateshead 83 1,721 74 28 91 31 92 12 82 27 82 1,567
Gloucestershire 77 4,987 85 169 77 69 77 10 74 237 77 4,426
Greenwich 82 2,655 90 219 85 988 88 37 81 271 78 1,054
Hackney 84 2,109 91 283 82 749 95 19 79 203 85 714
Halton 75 1,103 100 3 75 3 N/A* N/A* 85 34 75 1,052
Hammersmith and Fulham 82 1,094 84 76 78 275 100 2 81 143 86 459
Hampshire 82 11,843 87 366 85 151 94 47 86 492 82 10,671
Haringey 82 2,509 89 158 78 643 87 34 86 280 82 1,214
Harrow 84 2,308 86 1,166 82 242 100 14 83 171 81 592
Hartlepool 82 925 96 26 100 2 75 3 92 11 81 881
Havering 83 2,462 90 183 85 297 94 16 86 152 82 1,773
Herefordshire, County of 79 1,493 86 6 33 1 100 3 74 32 79 1,438
Hertfordshire 79 10,798 87 906 79 468 91 61 82 809 78 8,385
Hillingdon 81 2,968 87 885 81 326 80 8 81 371 77 1,134
Hounslow 83 2,455 87 797 80 298 100 17 82 207 81 830
Isle of Wight 73 964 89 16 0 0 75 3 84 32 73 909
Isles of Scilly 71 24 N/A* N/A* N/A* N/A* N/A* N/A* 0 0 73 24
Islington 81 1,505 82 123 77 339 100 10 85 247 82 688
Kensington and Chelsea 87 832 95 35 80 129 100 4 88 154 88 322
Kent 82 14,132 90 578 88 378 98 47 85 779 81 12,112
Kingston upon Hull, City of 78 2,434 89 41 66 41 100 6 77 100 78 2,178
Kingston upon Thames 81 1,455 84 256 64 37 92 23 82 135 81 870
Kirklees 76 4,024 76 1,087 76 86 83 10 70 240 77 2,552
Knowsley 74 1,271 91 40 100 16 100 5 75 30 74 1,177
Lambeth 83 2,459 87 122 81 1,042 93 14 84 355 84 773
Lancashire 78 10,651 78 1,251 73 52 91 30 78 353 78 8,890
Leeds 74 6,664 76 817 71 472 95 52 73 384 75 4,787
Leicester 76 3,399 81 1,542 73 359 100 13 73 230 71 1,133
Leicestershire 80 6,049 86 498 81 65 91 29 81 278 80 5,123
Lewisham 79 2,675 86 217 76 1,004 89 40 81 383 80 881
Lincolnshire 76 5,852 91 64 69 24 88 14 76 179 76 5,512
Liverpool 75 3,708 83 145 77 190 86 62 79 198 75 2,985
Luton 75 2,324 77 1,106 76 260 50 2 79 198 73 721
Manchester 75 4,955 73 1,122 79 956 83 44 77 426 75 2,070
Medway 78 2,573 88 131 89 182 100 9 87 195 76 2,013
Merton 79 1,819 84 463 75 257 84 16 80 189 78 845
Middlesbrough 81 1,454 86 151 75 24 100 2 85 75 81 1,170
Milton Keynes 79 2,779 88 387 80 458 86 18 82 227 76 1,629
Newcastle upon Tyne 81 2,249 82 336 80 114 88 21 85 99 81 1,619
Newham 85 3,924 88 1,851 85 941 93 13 86 248 79 606
Norfolk 75 6,594 85 99 74 64 83 25 76 198 75 6,116
North East Lincolnshire 81 1,527 86 12 100 5 100 2 82 47 80 1,443
North Lincolnshire 80 1,563 86 65 57 4 N/A* N/A* 84 41 80 1,431
North Somerset 80 1,896 81 21 88 7 75 3 80 61 79 1,790
North Tyneside 82 1,834 88 53 89 24 100 7 77 48 82 1,694
North Yorkshire 78 4,536 86 74 65 13 92 11 76 112 78 4,290
Northamptonshire 77 6,962 82 343 79 375 96 27 78 394 77 5,759
Northumberland 81 2,704 87 47 100 6 100 2 85 46 81 2,590
Nottingham 75 2,601 79 469 77 290 82 14 73 327 74 1,422
Nottinghamshire 79 7,208 87 236 81 73 82 32 81 349 79 6,455
Oldham 77 2,593 78 896 79 86 86 6 79 116 77 1,453
Oxfordshire 77 5,465 81 329 76 131 84 21 77 340 77 4,528
Peterborough 70 1,937 73 370 72 80 83 5 69 114 69 1,313
Plymouth 76 2,177 84 27 75 21 100 16 70 61 75 2,010
Poole 79 1,114 86 32 89 8 N/A* N/A* 77 51 79 1,010
Portsmouth 73 1,561 87 129 79 54 90 9 71 68 72 1,262
Reading 74 1,212 78 253 75 126 80 4 71 122 73 676
Redbridge 85 3,314 87 1,812 83 368 89 17 84 289 82 755
Redcar and Cleveland 83 1,319 78 7 100 3 N/A* N/A* 84 27 83 1,273
Richmond upon Thames 88 1,869 85 142 85 55 100 16 89 195 88 1,398
Rochdale 75 2,190 76 551 74 90 80 4 77 113 75 1,404
Rotherham 80 2,584 84 219 81 43 75 3 80 74 79 2,222
Rutland 81 319 80 4 0 0 100 1 93 13 81 298
Salford 78 2,216 86 77 83 126 86 6 81 175 78 1,746
Sandwell 77 3,327 82 1,061 80 352 92 12 76 277 74 1,538
Sefton 80 2,314 89 31 91 10 100 3 78 47 80 2,200
Sheffield 77 4,679 82 618 76 290 89 25 74 332 77 3,243
Shropshire 78 2,296 96 24 60 3 100 6 78 60 78 2,171
Slough 82 1,866 88 955 84 162 100 1 80 167 74 488
Solihull 80 2,123 83 240 85 46 100 6 82 191 79 1,607
Somerset 77 4,329 85 55 86 18 79 15 79 114 77 4,096
South Gloucestershire 81 2,540 92 102 84 43 92 11 85 138 81 2,217
South Tyneside 81 1,302 83 50 90 9 100 2 82 27 81 1,195
Southampton 79 2,054 79 255 80 74 92 11 81 141 79 1,541
Southend-on-Sea 82 1,711 88 129 89 81 92 11 78 101 81 1,348
Southwark 80 2,565 84 148 79 1,113 90 35 81 283 83 758
St. Helens 79 1,617 84 21 64 7 100 5 81 34 79 1,541
Staffordshire 80 7,498 81 315 84 61 92 22 78 239 79 6,802
Stockport 80 2,676 85 197 67 31 83 15 82 160 80 2,227
Stockton-on-Tees 83 1,983 85 101 91 31 91 10 89 49 82 1,778
Stoke-on-Trent 74 2,283 73 357 79 80 82 14 72 110 74 1,697
Suffolk 75 5,821 86 126 75 46 89 8 78 353 75 5,176
Sunderland 81 2,595 83 119 93 25 69 9 80 40 81 2,393
Surrey 81 9,770 85 739 82 156 95 53 81 581 80 8,068
Sutton 84 1,920 94 404 84 150 89 25 82 182 82 1,114
Swindon 78 2,179 81 243 80 71 89 8 78 121 78 1,712
Tameside 79 2,210 78 261 81 50 75 9 84 104 79 1,754
Telford and Wrekin 80 1,779 85 108 81 68 100 7 86 107 79 1,482
Thurrock 81 1,897 89 108 87 322 100 16 82 113 78 1,280
Torbay 75 1,045 81 13 67 2 100 5 84 37 75 978
Tower Hamlets 82 2,654 85 1,751 74 262 100 19 76 156 78 359
Trafford 85 2,493 89 377 83 103 95 36 86 178 84 1,709
Wakefield 77 2,960 75 126 79 37 100 11 81 105 77 2,656
Walsall 77 2,739 82 705 78 145 84 16 79 177 74 1,661
Waltham Forest 83 2,686 86 760 80 512 97 36 84 295 83 990
Wandsworth 82 2,002 85 371 78 464 100 11 79 246 85 830
Warrington 82 2,055 85 60 64 9 75 9 79 54 82 1,902
Warwickshire 80 4,856 85 289 74 62 100 18 83 229 80 4,197
West Berkshire 78 1,389 85 57 65 13 88 7 84 76 78 1,221
West Sussex 75 6,611 81 344 69 97 86 18 78 322 75 5,727
Westminster 83 1,190 84 190 81 196 92 24 89 139 87 315
Wigan 81 2,908 82 45 84 31 83 10 75 61 82 2,732
Wiltshire 78 4,039 85 67 71 42 100 9 84 150 78 3,678
Windsor and Maidenhead 80 1,212 80 185 86 12 86 6 79 100 80 881
Wirral 76 2,840 81 92 82 14 94 16 77 90 75 2,609
Wokingham 83 1,643 92 253 77 50 90 18 82 102 82 1,201
Wolverhampton 81 2,621 85 630 80 331 100 7 82 308 79 1,302
Worcestershire 77 4,765 80 192 69 18 90 9 77 173 77 4,328
York 80 1,508 83 33 83 10 89 8 77 40 79 1,396

* Not applicable

Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and area’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and area’ (CSV)

Summary of Writing 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 26 pupils in year 6, and the City of London had 22. Please treat the results for these 2 local authorities with particular caution.

The data shows that:

  • in 2017/18, 88% of pupils in Richmond Upon Thames met the expected standard in writing, the highest percentage out of all local authorities
  • 70% of pupils in Peterborough met the expected standard, the lowest percentage out of all local authorities

5. Methodology

The key stage 2 datasets combine information from the following two data sources:

  • prior attainment records (key stage 1 results)
  • school census records

Key stage 2 data received from the Standard Testing Agency (STA) is matched to school census records to identify pupils’ ethnicities and free school meal eligibility.

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

Confidence intervals: Confidence intervals are available for the ‘progress score’ if you download the data. These confidence intervals are calculated for a school based on a specific group of pupils. A school may have been just as effective, but have performed differently with a different set of pupils. Similarly, some pupils may be more likely to achieve high or low results, independently of which school they attend. To account for this natural uncertainty, it is best to interpret these school scores alongside their associated confidence intervals.

A 95% confidence interval around progress scores means that if the progress scores of 100 random schools were taken, then 95 times out of 100 their progress score would fall between the upper and lower confidence interval. But 5 times out of 100 it would fall outside this range.

School scores are interpreted alongside their associated confidence intervals in the following manner: If the lower confidence interval is greater than zero, it can be interpreted as meaning that the school has achieved greater than average progress compared to pupils with similar starting points nationally. Similarly, if the upper confidence interval is below zero, then the school has made less than average progress. Where the 95% confidence intervals overlap zero, this means that the school’s progress score is not significantly different from the national average.

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. Progress scores are given to 1 decimal place.

Related publications

Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2018

Quality and methodology information

6. Data sources

Source

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

Publication release date: 4 June 2019

Updated: 19 September 2019

full page history
  1. Updated to include data broken down by ethnicity and area (local authority).
  2. Updated with the latest available data (for 2017/18).

From: Department for Education

Previous editions:
  1. Edition published on 14 May 2019
  2. Edition published on 5 March 2018
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