Claim: In Wales, 20% of children leave primary school illiterate
This figure is not accurate for making conclusions about education in 2025. The figure combines findings from three Estyn reports which were published in 2011 and 2012 from a small sample of schools inspected in those years.
The claim is therefore out of context and out of date.
‘Illiterate’ is not a term recognised or collected as a data item by the Welsh Government, nor it is used by Estyn in their school inspection reports.
Estyn reports
The Estyn annual report 2011/2012 (section 3) did not refer to children being illiterate. It says: ‘In around four-fifths of schools, key stage 2 pupils use their reading skills appropriately in other areas of the curriculum. However, in one-fifth of schools, too many pupils read at a level below their chronological age and a minority do not make enough progress in learning to read with understanding.’
Estyn’s annual report 2010/2011 states ‘In a survey that we undertook this year, we found that 20% of pupils enter secondary school with a reading age below nine years and six months, which is generally considered the level of functional literacy, and a further 20% have a reading age that is between six and 18 months below their age’.
Estyn’s 2012 thematic review on literacy (KS3) says: “Around 40% of learners enter secondary schools in Year 7 with reading ages significantly (at least six months) below their chronological age. Around 20% of these learners are not functionally literate, with reading ages of below nine and a half years.”
As a small sample across Wales at that time, this is not the same as 20% of all learners.