Would you worry if 44% of entrants to a (secondary) school couldn't read?

[Takver]

To be more exact, 44% 'have a reading age of lower than 9.5 years' - from the Estyn report. Would this worry you if you were choosing a school?

Its not in a particularly deprived area, nor does it have many (I suspect a trivial no.) of children for whom English is a 2nd language.

I think you all speak a lot of sense. I agree that 4 to Oxbridge is very impressive (its pretty small for a comp) though I suspect it was very much a one off!

They don't, for example, offer further maths A level as a standard option, though clearly they're supportive of the very bright one-offs. I asked at the open evening & they said that one girl was taking it as a twilight subject supported by her teacher, but she was the first - whereas the Welsh medium school offers it as a standard option to bright maths/sciencey pupils.

The problem is I'm not really quite sure where dd is going to fit in the food chain, tbh. She's undoubtedly bright (99th percentile plus on the various verbal/non-verbal reasoning tests that the ed psych does) but has specific problems (mechanical and conceptual) with written work. My hope is that in the less academic less popular school they'll be pleased to have her, IYSWIM, rather than seeing her as a 'problem child' which she has been rather through primary.

But as I've said above, its hard to fight through the 'I wouldn't dream of sending my child there' brigade without doubts.

TBH I'm always more interested in the numbers to Russell Group Unis rather than Oxbridge. If nothing else because statistically its such a small number and you have to have students suited to their courses. Knowing how many are going to RG, particularly on BSc courses truly shows the level of academic rigour in the top 15% of the school ....

Thanks, TalkinPeace, another good question to ask (of both schools!)