Welsh pupils' literacy lagged behind England in 2007 Children aged seven in Wales were lagging behind their contemporaries in England in 2007 when it came to literacy, a study has found. Prof Chris Taylor of Cardiff University said in 2007 Welsh seven-year-olds were on average a month behind in vocabulary. He found that while children in both countries scored equally in assessments on their numeracy and non-verbal reasoning, the gap in literacy levels between the two countries increased as the children grew up. Prof Taylor spoke to Bethan Rhys Roberts on BBC Wales.