A fifth of primary children fail in the three Rs, says chief Ofsted inspector

One in five children leaves primary education without a proper grasp of the three Rs, the chief inspector of schools said yesterday.

Christine Gilbert delivered the warning over 'stalling' standards as she unveiled tough measures to tackle under-performing schools.

In contrast to ministers' boasts of steadily improving results, she said the number of 11-year-olds lacking basic skills in English or maths had barely changed since her appointment in 2006.

She warned many of these children will be out of education, work or training by the age of 16.

Under Ofsted's shake-up from September next year, schools could fail inspections if they do not meet targets for the three Rs at 11 and 16.

The notice period for an inspection will be cut from two days to nothing to prevent teachers over-preparing.

Parents will be given a greater say in the timing and type of inspection a school receives and surveys will monitor their satisfaction with their children's education.

Inspectors will devote more time to scrutinising teachers' success in teaching basic skills and stretching both the most disaffected and the brightest pupils.

Schools which do well could go up to six years without a full inspection, facing only a deskbased 'health check' in between.

Others could be inspected every three years, in line with the current norm, while schools which fail to improve will face monitoring visits every year.

Failing schools placed under ' special measures' will be checked every few months.

Spelling out her reasons for the proposals published yesterday, Mrs Gilbert said: 'If education in England is going to compare favourably with the best in the world, standards need to improve. In fact they have stalled.'

Results in national curriculum tests for 11-year-olds show 20 per cent did not reach the level expected for their age in English and 23 per cent did not in maths.

Mrs Gilbert described this as 'unacceptable'.

She also highlighted the army of so-called 'Neets'  -  the 10 per cent of 16 to 18-year-olds not in education, employment or training.

'The link between those 10 per cent and the 20 per cent is very strong and we are not seeing enough movement there,' she said.

'The gap between the "haves" and the "have-nots" is not reducing quickly enough.'

The Government insists that standards are improving.

But Schools Secretary Ed Balls conceded in the Commons yesterday: 'The rate of increase has slowed down in recent years and we have to redouble our efforts.'

Ministers will publish proposals today to turn round education for the 70,000 children taught outside ordinary schools because of illness or disruptive behaviour.

The proposed reforms to inspections were criticised by teachers' leaders last night.

Christine Blower, acting general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said the 'punitive' system would cause staff to quit.

Schools will feel that an inspection visit is the equivalent of Russian roulette, and inspectors could visit when half the school is on a school trip,' she said.

She added: 'Parents do not want to be involved in triggering early inspections. The low level of complaints indicate that parents are supportive of their children's schools.'

Crackdown on 'coasting'

'Coasting' schools face annual inspections if they fail to meet targets for the three Rs.

For the first time, Ofsted will tell schools the minimum exam standards they need to reach in tests at 11 and at GCSE to pass their inspections.

Schools which fail to improve face monitoring visits between full inspections as often as every 12 to 18 months.

These are 'satisfactory' schools which are considered coasting because they are not driving up results, such as schools in suburbs which achieve only middling results with a high-ability intake of pupils.

Schools which fail to meet the minimum standards could be put in 'special measures'.

More than 600 secondary schools currently in special measures could be closed if they do not improve by 2011.

Blitz on 'boring classes'

Schools with fat, bored or unhappy pupils could face extra Ofsted inspections.

Inspectors will consider the views of children and parents as collected in national surveys when deciding how frequently to visit schools.

Pupils could be asked whether they are bored in lessons and if they are happy and feel safe.

Parents will be asked how well they think the school is performing.

Chief inspector Christine Gilbert said studies suggest that boredom is linked with poor exam results.

The Government has also asked Ofsted to judge schools on how well they control child obesity, teenage pregnancy and criminal behaviour.

The details will be announced later this year.