Foreign children perform better than native English speakers.

Children starting their education from school in the UK at the Reception stage (4-5 years) show the best results after graduating from primary school (11 years). This fact was made public after an in-depth study.
However, if children whose first language was not English begin their education in England at a later stage, their result in the final exam after high school (Year 6 Sats) is lower than that of native speakers.

Statistics of the UK Department for Education confirm sit a similar trend when passing the exam at the end of secondary school – at GCSE 8 points (this is a top five with a minus) are scored by those who mastered English and other school subjects early on in their education in England.

The study examined the results of 126,000 primary school students in the UK whose first language differed from English, almost 17% of the total number of children.
Early start gives the best result!

The report’s authors note that 79% of the total number of “non-native” children were born in the UK to international families and lived their entire lives there. Many children probably spoke fluent English before school, though it was not possible to verify this.
In 2018, 68% achieved the state standard in mathematics, reading and writing. Compared to “all English” students, this is the best result – only 65% received the minimum required scores.
However, the later the training begins, the lower the results are. 56% of those who started a little later, years in 5-7 from the year 1 stage, reach the standard on Year 6 Sats. And this percentage drops dramatically to 18% for those who started their studies in the British education system from the age of 10-11 already in the final class of high school.

A similar picture is observed in high school – 50% of “foreigners” who started their studies early enough, score 8 points in the age of 14-15 years, and from “English” only 46.5% succeed. For public school students who joined their peers at age 15, the probability of achieving a score of 8 (on a scale from 0 to 9) is only 24%.
It is obvious that the later the english language, the more difficult it is for children to compete on an equal footing with native speakers. Even having mastered academic English, being quite successful in school, children have to work hard to master a foreign language with all its subtleties, features, stable expressions and English humor.
Preparing international students to study in both public and private schools in the UK is a priority for the London-based Mercury Education education company. No matter what region of the world our student is in, we will certainly be able to give him the opportunity to study with a professional teacher (tutor) and achieve high results not only in learning English, but also in other important subjects for him. Additional classes will help to raise self-esteem and give self-confidence, regardless of whether further education abroad is planned.