One in five boys aged five cannot write their own NAMES

Almost one in five boys are struggling to write their own name at the age of five, figures suggest.

Government statistics show a gender gap still remains, with girls outperforming boys in areas such as writing and counting before they start formal education.

Some 19 per cent of boys cannot write their own name, or short words like 'dog' or 'cat', compared with one in 10 girls.

And two fifths of boys cannot write a simple shopping list, or a letter to Santa, compared with a fifth of five-year-old girls.

While almost one in 10 boys cannot count up to 10, compared with six per cent of girls.    Full Read