CHILDREN from struggling families in York are failing to reach a required reading standard by the time they are 11-years-old.

Research carried out in partnership with Save the Children revealed poor youngsters in the York Central and York Outer constituencies are struggling to keep up with their classmates from affluent backgrounds.

In York Central, only 64 per cent of school pupils can “read well” at 11-years-old while 61 per cent of children in York Outer have made the grade, placing the two constituencies in the country’s worst performing 25 per cent.

The research was published by Read On. Get On – a coalition of charities, parents, teachers and businesses – which launched earlier this year in response to the UK’s reading challenge.

It aims to get all children up to scratch by age 11, by 2025 to ensure children can read well, understand and discuss stories.

Dame Julia Cleverdon, chairman of Read On. Get On, said: “Focused effort is now necessary to ensure that children from the poorest families and most deprived constituencies do not fall even further behind.”

Helen Barnard, policy and research manager at Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “This report shows the worrying extent to which poverty can harm children’s life chances.

“Our evidence shows the disadvantage holds back attainment in other subjects as well as reading. The proportion of 11-year-olds not meeting expected standards in reading and maths is less than half what it was 15 years ago, but stubborn gaps persist between pupils receiving free school meals and other pupils.

“The proportion of free school meals students not achieving Level 4 or above in reading, writing and maths is twice as high as pupils not receiving free school meals.

“Interventions can be made at all stages and all ages of children’s school careers to help tackle poverty. Increasing the attainment of children from low income backgrounds should be a central part of an anti-poverty strategy, alongside improving the jobs available to them once they leave education.”

Frances Postlethwaite, children’s librarian at Explore York, said it was important for parents to read with their children from babyhood to build a love of reading, use encouragement and praise, and find new ways to build their interest.