More than 25 per cent of 11-year-olds in the UK are struggling to reach the expected standards in punctuation, grammar and spelling, according to  new figures released by the government.

The findings were released after the results from more than 500,000 Key Stage 2 tests were compiled in May of this year.

According to the data, around 139,000 of the students failed to meet level 4 standards (good), with male pupils performing worse than their female counterparts.

Around 30 per cent of the boys – 85,000 – who took the test failed to reach the necessary level, compared to 55,000 girls – or one fifth.

On the whole, more than 400,000 met the expected level in maths, writing and reading tests – representing a one per cent increase on last year.

Elizabeth Truss, the Education Minister, said:

“Today’s figures show the majority of children are performing well and they, along with their parents and teachers, should be congratulated for their achievements.

“However, the statistics also reveal that one in four children is leaving primary school without a firm grasp of spelling, punctuation and grammar. The new test encourages schools to focus on these basics.

“British businesses are very clear – written communication has never been more important. Children need to be able to spell well and write proper sentences to get on in life.”

With children spending so much time online, the content they find on the internet will no doubt have a significant impact on the way they view language and the importance they place in using it properly.

It is also crucial for businesses to present the right image to consumers by using language correctly. It is inevitable that poorly constructed content will have a negative influence on potential customers, possibly damaging profits in the long run.

Graeme Parton

Graeme has experience creating content for online sources and for the radio, and at university he studied Multimedia Journalism.