Children from disadvantaged backgrounds in Merton lag behind their classmates, according to teacher assessments of their first years at school.

Results of the Key Stage 1 assessments, made when children are seven, show that the proportion reaching the required standard in reading, writing, maths and science falls below other children.

The Department for Education identify children from disadvantaged backgrounds as those who would be eligible for free school meals.

These children are lagging behind in all the assessed topics. The biggest gap is in writing with 56% reaching the required standard compared to 73% of other children. In reading it's 66% compared to 80%. Fewer children receiving free school meals met the standard in maths and science too.

Nansi Ellis, assistant general secretary of National Education Union, which represents teachers, said; "There were 4.1 million children living in poverty in the UK in 2016-17, according to Child Poverty Action Group – 1 in 4 of the school population.

"Any serious strategy for raising educational attainment has to address these appalling figures.

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"Teachers are working more than 50 hours a week, and this figure is rising, but there are limits to what can be achieved through placing the responsibility of lifting standards on schools. There are wider issues which need to be addressed, and the Government is not addressing them."

Assessments were made of 2,520 pupils in state-funded schools across Merton.

The Key Stage 1 assessments were introduced in 2016 to determine how children were coping with the more challenging national curriculum set by the Government and the increase in the standards expected.

The NEU says that looking at how children are learning is important but KS1 assessments are a poor way to do it.

Ms Ellis said: "We don’t need to test every child in high-stakes ways that put a lot of pressure on them, in order to evaluate whether a school is doing its job. Other countries have found different and more successful ways of monitoring the quality of education and improving it."