Many teenagers 'can't read GCSE exam papers'

Thousands of UK teenagers cannot read well enough to understand their GCSE exam papers, a large-scale analysis of pupils' reading ability suggests.

Data on 29,000 teenagers in 1,100 schools in England suggests they have an average reading age of 10 or 11.

But GCSE materials and papers were found to be pitched at the correct levels.

The tests were based on results of both struggling and bright pupils using Renaissance Learning software.

Children's literacy levels were checked by asking them 25 questions which required them to put words into a particular context. The results were then combined with teacher assessments.

The researchers also checked six randomly selected GCSE exam papers to determine the average reading age required to comprehend the texts

Amazing....

Surely the teachers must take their share of the blame.

I don't think it entirely fair to just blame the teachers. They have had their authority undermined by the abolition of effective discipline in the classroom. So if a student chooses not to pay attention, there is little they can do.

Although the teachers do have to take some responsibility for the massive dumbing down of educational standards, presumably to make it easier for them to appear to be suceeding to achieve more exam passes.

The fact that there are thousands of people in the uk who do not have english as a first language could also be a problem.

I think that school subjects need to be updated and more relevant to today's workplaces...

Instead of pouring millions into new schools they should spend it on overhauling teacher training and give heads more options to remove teachers who can't(teach).