Some schools say the marked gap between the apparent reading ability and writing skill of the same sets of 11 year olds suggests there is something wrong with the writing test. Head teachers belonging to the National Primary Heads Association are suspicious. The overall outcome of the reviews is not yet known. The schools inspectorate, Ofsted, looked into the issue last year and, in a report in December, said more attention should be given to training teachers to teach writing effectively. The worry for schools is that, following that report, many of them had made an extra effort ahead of this year's tests - with very little result.
Writing is the most problematic subject to mark.
Most of the other subjects are fairly straightforward. With writing the marker has to read the piece of work very carefully indeed, compare it against the criteria which are established in the marking scheme, and it's quite a long job to do it accurately. In other words, fewer than half of England's 11 year old boys can write as well as they ought to be able to. The government's response is to give teachers extra training in teaching writing. The Education Secretary, David Blunkett, is allocating 9m for special courses for teachers of nine and 10 year olds.