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Press release: Ofsted launches first in new generation of long-term, subject-focused reports

Standards in English continue to rise but rate of improvement in teaching has slowed

Today the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) publishes two reports. English 2000-05, is first in a new series of subject reports. School inspections no longer report in detail on school subjects, so in-depth reports on individual subjects will be published separately.

The first of these reports, which draws on evidence from school inspections between 2000-2005 and recent subject specialist visits, found that standards in English have continued to rise over the period of the report and that the national strategies have contributed to some significant improvements.

However, standards in English still remain below targets set by the Government and although English is one of the best taught subjects in primary and secondary schools the rate of improvement in the quality of teaching has slowed in comparison to other subjects. The quality of teaching in around 30% of lessons in primary schools is no better then satisfactory.

The National Literacy Strategy has led to more direct teaching in primary schools, a better structure to lessons and clearer learning objectives. However, inspectors noted that some teachers have interpreted the guidance inflexibly and so teaching does not match the particular needs of pupils in the class.

Guidance from the Key Stage 3 strategy has had a significant and positive impact on schemes of work for English in secondary schools and enabled teachers to produce more detailed plans across the key stage. Inspectors have noted that problems with marking and moderating of the Key Stage 3 English tests have led many schools to question the validity of the results.

Inspectors found assessment continues to be the weakest element of teaching, despite a great deal of guidance in recent years. Too many pupils are not clear enough about what they need to do to improve their work in English. Schools’ use of performance data has improved however and is increasingly well used to track pupils’ progress and challenge underachievement of pupils.

Other areas of the curriculum that are still underdeveloped and need improvement in many schools include; helping pupils to read widely and for pleasure outside school, ensuring there is more emphasis on speaking and listening which isn’t currently given the same attention as reading and writing and using ICT effectively.

The report highlights other concerns. The gap between girls’ and boys’ achievement in English increases as pupils get older, and too many schools have not managed to close this gap. There are also continuing differences in the attainment of pupils from different minority groups.

Director of Education, Miriam Rosen, said:

"The new-style reports will enable us to look back and report on a fuller picture rather than pick up on trends of the moment."

"The evidence from today’s report is a mixed picture. While standards have continued to rise, and the popularity of English as a subject has continued to grow, there are still groups of pupils that are not reaching their potential in this area. We must ensure that the standard of teaching continues to improve and that pupils receive the help they need. English is relevant to the whole of the curriculum; if pupils struggle with English this will affect their ability to learn in all areas."

The second report published today, Skills for Life in Colleges: One Year On, evaluates the Government’s Skills for Life Strategy.

The Skills for Life Strategy was set up in March 2001, the aim of which is to improve adult literacy and numeracy skills. Today’s report evaluated the quality of literacy, numeracy and language provision in general further education colleges and independent specialist colleges.

Inspectors found the strategy has been successful in attracting learners from priority groups and in helping more learners gain nationally recognised qualifications. It’s estimated that between 2001 and 2004, 800,000 learners achieved at least one literacy and numeracy, or English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) qualification. However, the strategy has yet to deliver significant improvements in the quality of education provision.

Previous successes in this area have been maintained and there has been progress made, but not enough. The quality of education provision for literacy and numeracy improved overall in General Further Education colleges. But almost one fifth of provision for these subjects is still unsatisfactory and the quality of provision for English for speakers of other languages deteriorated, with nearly a third unsatisfactory compared with 26% a year ago. In Independent Specialist Colleges more than half of the provision for literacy and numeracy has been unsatisfactory for the last two years.

There remains a shortage of teachers with the necessary expertise and qualifications to teach literacy, numeracy and English for Speakers of Other Languages in all types of colleges.

Generic teacher training courses for further education teachers fail to tackle the weak literacy and numeracy of some trainers and so a significant minority of vocational tutors, who are expected to teach literacy and numaracy, have inadequate skills in these areas.

Inspectors also visited colleges that were offering the new level 4 specialist teaching qualifications in further education teacher training (FETT). They found the courses have been introduced successfully and are generally well managed, provision is good and the quality assurance is effective. The courses have begun to improve the qualifications and levels of skills of Skills for Life teachers.

Miriam Rosen said:

"There are still a large number of adults in this county that still do not have the basic skills of literacy and numeracy. It is essential that this problem does not continue and that adult learners get the same high standard of education that we expect everywhere else. The Government has made a great deal of progress in tackling this problem by introducing initiatives and funding. But more needs to be done and it needs to be done quickly. We must ensure that as many people as possible have the basic skills of numeracy and literacy that many of us take for granted."

Notes For Editors

1. English 2000/05 and Skills for Life in Colleges: One Year On are available on the website today.2.Ofsted is a non-ministerial government department established under the Education (Schools) Act 1992 to take responsibility for the inspection of all schools in England. Its role also includes the inspection of local education authorities, teacher training institutions and youth work. During 2001, Ofsted became responsible for inspecting all 16-19 education and for the regulation of early years childcare, including childminders.

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