UK Immigration Education: According to the UK's Daily Mail, under the new examination rules, seven-year-old children will be required to reach a reading speed of 90 words per minute and perform two-digit subtraction.
Seven-year-old children in the UK will face division and fraction problems for the first time and will also be subject to more rigorous spelling tests during Key Stage 1 teacher assessments. The Department for Education has published relevant guidance to help schools determine whether students have reached the "expected standard" in mathematics, reading, grammar, punctuation, and spelling in the new examinations starting next May.
This examination approach adopts the idea of former Education Secretary Michael Gove to introduce a more rigorous national curriculum in primary schools, aiming to lay a "solid foundation" for students and incorporate traditional curriculum content such as multiplication tables and grammar rules into the classroom.
However, teachers stated on the 26th that the new type of examination is too difficult and may damage students' self-confidence. Relevant staff will assess whether students are performing at, "below," or "above" the "expected level." They will be tested on their use of grammar and punctuation, and their understanding of terms such as "adverb."
Students should be able to read "accurately and fluently, without significant errors," according to the assessment agency. This means their reading speed should be at least 90 words per minute. 7-year-old children should be able to recognize most words with two or more syllables and common affixes, and be able to read uncommon words quickly. They should be able to correctly spell 20 words such as "finger" and "painting" within 15 minutes.
Students must perform mental arithmetic involving two-digit subtraction, such as 74 minus 33, and answer multiplication and division problems using the 2, 5, and 10 times tables. They should understand the meaning of one-half, one-quarter, and one-third.
Approximately 90% of seven-year-olds currently meet the standards, but it is feared that the number of people who can meet the new standards will not be as high. Mary Bousted of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers said the new exams have "poor prospects," adding that "subjecting 7-year-olds to this level of testing is likely to cause deep anxiety for parents, and children will feel like they are failures."
A spokesperson for the UK Department for Education stated on the 26th: "We want all young people to master the essential skills of literacy and numeracy, which is the original intention behind our introduction of a brand-new curriculum and world-class examinations."