A report by the schools watchdog has found that some primary schools are having more success in improving pupils' reading and writing than others.

But what are the standards of literacy that the government is aiming for?

The Department for Education's Standards and Effectiveness Unit has drawn up a list of the skills that "literate primary pupils" should possess:

• Be able to read and write with confidence, fluency and understanding.

• Be able to monitor their reading and correct their own mistakes.

• Understand the sound and spelling system and use this to read and spell accurately.

• Have fluent and legible handwriting.

• Have an interest in words and their meanings and a growing vocabulary.

• Know, understand and be able to write in fiction and poetry.

• Understand and be familiar with some of the ways in which narratives are structured through basic literary ideas of setting, character and plot.

• Understand, use and be able to write a range of non-fiction texts.

• Be able to plan, draft, revise and edit their own writing.

• Have a suitable technical vocabulary through which to understand and discuss their reading and writing.

• Be interested in books, read with enjoyment and evaluate and justify their preferences.

• Develop their powers of imagination, inventiveness and critical awareness through reading and writing.