At least three quarters of schools will see real-terms budget cuts next year, with teaching redundancies expected to follow, funding experts warned this week. The gloomy news came as ministers admitted that the schools settlement they hailed as a “victory” less than two months ago would actually turn out to be a cut. An analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) does, however, show that up to a quarter of schools will receive real-terms funding increases next year because of the pupil premium.

Thousands of boys start secondary school in England with a reading age barely above that of a seven-year-old, government data shows. Almost one in 10 boys aged 11 are reading well below the standard expected of them, statistics obtained by the BBC's Today programme reveal.

Pupils will be given an "MOT" to ensure they can read properly at the age of six, the Education Secretary said today. Michael Gove said the academy system would also be extended to allow successful headteachers to take over failing primary schools. Figures provided by the Department for Education to BBC Radio 4's Today programme found 9% of boys - some 18,000 pupils - aged 11 had a reading age of seven or younger when leaving primary school.

Figures published by Department for Education based on teachers' observations of hundreds of thousands of five-year-old pupils. More than half of all boys in England are not making good enough progress at school by the time they reach the age of five, government statistics revealed today.