Standards in English in schools are improving but not rising fast enough, according to an Ofsted report published today.

The report, English at the crossroads, shows that effective schools have strong direction from leaders who understand the subject’s importance and place it at the centre of their drive for improvement.

The report notes that boys are still lagging behind girls and that this gap in performance becomes evident early on at school. Standards in writing are lower than in reading in primary schools. The report highlights successful teaching strategies that enable all pupils to develop their literacy skills. Pupils respond well where activities are engaging and give them a good stimulus to read more widely and to express their ideas in speech and writing.

Very effective schools include activities using information and communication technology to motivate pupils and develop literacy skills. The best teaching responds to pupils’ interests but also seeks to extend their experiences and knowledge.

Inspectors highlight a need to identify and share examples of good or outstanding practice more effectively if English is to improve further. Schools need to focus on a number of important areas, including helping children and young people to become independent learners, improving the quality of assessment and improving the teaching of writing. To do this, they need more consistent support from other agencies in identifying and sharing good practice, possibly through the establishment of national and regional centres for English -similar to those that already exist for mathematics and science.

Christine Gilbert, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, said:

'This report presents a challenge to schools. There is a significant gap between the most effective schools and the rest. The most effective provide a dynamic and productive English curriculum, responding to changes in society and pupils’ literacy needs and leading to higher standards. However, too much English teaching is no better than satisfactory and too many pupils are not able to make the progress they then need to catch up.

'Our report shows that with strong leadership, a clear vision for the subject and teaching that really engages pupils and enables them to think for themselves, it is possible to enthuse students and improve standards.'

Key findings include:

• Standards in English have risen since 2004 but the rate of improvement has been slow.
• Schools where achievement is high have subject leaders with a strong vision and sense of direction.
• The gap in performance between girls and boys remains. Some minority ethnic groups achieve less well than others. Standards attained by white British boys entitled to free school meals are among the lowest.
• Teaching is good or outstanding in seven in 10 lessons observed. Enthusiastic teaching and the use of practical activities as a stimulus engages pupils and enables them to express their own ideas.

Recommendations include:

• The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) should consider ways in which good practice can be identified and disseminated more effectively.
• DCSF should improve teachers' understanding of how to use information and communication technology (ICT) effectively in English, promote wider reading, and develop pupils' appreciation of the nature of spoken language.
• Schools should review their curriculum for English in the light of developments in ICT to ensure that it meets the needs of all their pupils, particularly at Key Stage 3.
• Schools should also build opportunities for independent learning into the English curriculum systematically and improve the quality of homework.

1.The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) regulates and inspects registered childcare and children's social care, including adoption and fostering agencies, residential schools, family centres and homes for children. It also inspects all state maintained schools, non-association independent schools, pupil referral units, further education, initial teacher education, and publicly funded adult skills and employment-based training, the Children and Family Courts Advisory Service (Cafcass), and the overall level of services for children in local authority areas.

2. Media can contact the Ofsted Press Office through 020 7421 6899 or via Ofsted's enquiry line 08456 404040 between 8.30am - 6.30pm Monday - Friday. Out of these hours, during evenings and weekends, the duty press officer can be reached on 07919 057359.

3. Ofsted's evaluation report of English in primary and secondary schools 2005-08 is based principally on evidence from inspections of English between April 2005 and March 2008 in 242 maintained schools in England (122 primary schools and 120 secondary schools at Key Stage 2 and 3).

4. The report also draws on other reports published by Ofsted, evaluations of the National Strategies, discussions with teachers and others, and national test and examination results. It reviews developments since Ofsted's previous English report in 2005.

Part A focuses on the key inspection findings in the context of broadly static standards since the previous subject report of 2005.

Part B identifies areas for improvement. Both parts of the report give examples of good practice. The report argues that the most effective schools are those that have revised their English curriculum to meet changes in modern technology and pupils’ developing literacy needs.

5. Link to the report: www.ofsted.gov.uk/Publications/080247