How many young people have literacy problems?
One in six young people in the UK will struggle with their literacy. Young people not reaching expected literacy levels are more likely to be from disadvantaged backgrounds. By age 11, young people should be able to read simple texts, such as The Sun newspaper. After the age of 11, advances in reading levels will be hard to spot quickly, although young people should become more confident communicators, and their writing abilities should continue to become more refined.
The most recent statistics available show that about 20 per cent of pupils fail to reach the standard expected of them at age 11. At age 16, only 31 per cent of pupils from the most deprived areas achieve five or more A*-C grades at GCSE including English, compared with 59 per cent from more advantaged socio-economic backgrounds.
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