School inspectors have written to children as young as 4 warning them that they were not learning enough to prepare them for their adult lives. The letters, from Ofsted, the education watchdog, were written in simple English as part of a drive for transparency on how schools are performing.

Pupils at a primary school in Nottinghamshire that had been placed under special measures were told that they were failing in core subjects. The children were told to make more effort to behave in class. A letters to pupils in West Yorkshire read: “We decided that the school needs to be helped to improve. Most aspects of the school’s work are not good enough.” Children in London were told: “You need to improve your writing and maths to help you get jobs when you are older.”

Chris Keates, general secretary of the teaching union NASUWT, said: “The letters give licence to the pupils to question the professionalism of the school and its staff.”

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