This section includes KS1 attainment by gender, disadvantage, special educational need (SEN) provision, month of birth and first language. Further information is available in the data files, including attainment by free school meal eligibility.
Attainment by gender
Attainment at key stage 1 has increased compared to 2022 for both boys and girls in all subjects.
In reading, attainment increased from 63% to 65% for boys and from 71% to 72% for girls.
In writing, attainment increased from 52% to 54% for boys and from 64% to 66% for girls.
In maths, attainment increased from 68% to 71% for boys and from 67% to 70% for girls.
As in 2022, more girls met the expected standard than boys in reading and writing, while more boys reached the expected standard than girls in maths. This is a change from 2019 when more girls reached the expected standard than boys in all three subjects. The gender attainment gap is largest in writing, at 12 percentage points.
Attainment by disadvantage status
Attainment has increased in 2023 compared to 2022 for both disadvantaged pupils and all other pupils in all subjects. The attainment of disadvantaged pupils has increased more than for other pupils in all subjects, closing the disadvantage attainment gap.
In reading, attainment increased from 51% to 54% for disadvantaged pupils and from 72% to 73% for other pupils.
In writing, attainment increased from 41% to 44% for disadvantaged pupils and from 63% to 65% for other pupils.
In maths, attainment increased from 52% to 56% for disadvantaged pupils and from 73% to 75% for other pupils.
The proportion of year 2 pupils classified as disadvantaged decreased from 25% in 2016 to 21% in 2019, before increasing again to 25% in 2022 and 26% in 2023.
Definition of disadvantage
Disadvantaged pupils are those known to be eligible for free school meals (FSM) prior to the assessment in years 1 or 2 (i.e. not including nursery or reception), have been in the care of the local authority for 1 day or more in the last year or have left local authority care in England and Wales through adoption, a special guardianship order, a residence order or a child arrangements order.
Attainment by Special Educational Need (SEN) status
Among pupils with SEN, 28% met the expected standard in reading, 19% in writing and 32% in maths at the end of key stage 1 in 2023.
Of those pupils on SEN support, 32% met the expected standard in reading, 22% in writing and 37% in maths. Of those pupils with an EHC plan, 12% met the expected standard in reading, 8% in writing and 15% in maths.
In 2023, 17% of eligible pupils in year 2 had a special educational need (SEN). SEN pupils either have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan or receive SEN support. In 2023, 4% of eligible pupils in year 2 had an EHC plan and 13% were on SEN support.
Attainment by first language
Attainment has increased in 2023 compared to 2022 for both pupils with English as their first language and a language other than English as their first language in all subjects.
The attainment of pupils with English as their first language has increased more than for pupils with a language other than English as their first language in all subjects, increasing the attainment gap.
The proportion of eligible year 2 pupils with a first language other than English was 21% in 2023 and 2022.
Attainment by ethnicity
Attainment at key stage 1 varies by pupil ethnicity.
Attainment has increased or remained stable in 2023 compared to 2022 for all ethnic groups in all three subjects.
In 2023, Chinese pupils were the highest achieving group in all three subjects (78% met the expected standards in reading, 73% in writing and 89% in maths), followed by Mixed White and Asian pupils in reading (76%) and Indian pupils in writing and maths (69% in writing and 78% in maths). Gypsy/Roma pupils were the lowest performing group for reading and maths (23% met the expected standard in reading and 30% in maths), and Traveller of Irish heritage pupils were the lowest performing group for writing (19% met the expected standard).
Following feedback from users, the Office for National Statistics updated their guidelines on ethnic groups (opens in a new tab). We have therefore included Chinese pupils in the Asian ethnic group in this publication since 2022. This was a change from previous years when Chinese pupils were reported separately. This change has been backdated to 2016 to allow comparisons over time. Figures for Chinese pupils only are still available via the table tool (within subject 'Key stage 1 attainment by pupil characteristics') and the data file ‘ks1_national_pupil_characteristics_2016_to_2023_provisional.csv’
Attainment by month of birth
Attainment has increased in 2023 compared to 2022 for all birth months in all three subjects, by between 1 and 3 percentage points.
As in previous years, pupils born in September were the highest performing group (77% met the expected standard in reading in 2023, 71% in writing and 80% in maths), while pupils born in August were the lowest performing group (58% met the expected standard in reading in 2023, 49% in writing and 60% in maths).
