My ten year old son started Middle School in September and, along with lots of other new responsibilities, he now has to provide his own stationery. My son has really enjoyed purchasing lots of new pens and accessories and amongst one of his favourite purchases were these Frixions pen made by Pilot.

We were lucky to find these pens on a 'buy one get one free' offer at Rymans earlier this year, so my son invested in a practical black colour and also a yellow highlighter. The black pen was an excellent choice but I'm not convinced that the highlighter was really an essential purchase for a school boy at his level. There are a range of other more colours too, all available from Rymans, including blue, red and green.

These rollerball pens usually cost £2.99 each which is quite expensive for a single pen. These do boast the unusual benefit of having a built in 'rubber' at the end, allowing the user to erase the ink if a mistake is made. Now, I've used pens that are supposedly 'erasable' in the past, using harsh rubbers which rip the paper to shreds, but this pen is completely different as the ink is erased using the friction of rubbing it. I was impressed by how effective rubbing the ink out actually is as it removes the ink entirely without damaging the paper or smudging at all. Once the space has been written over, there is absolutely no evidence of the original writing whatsoever, which is ideal for homework or for projects where my son wants to show how much care and attention he has taken with his work. The ink does need to be dry before it can be rubbed out but it does dry very quickly, so there is no real delay involved as soon as you realise that a mistake has been made.

Obviously, given the potential for this ink to disappear when friction is applied (and, reportedly, the likelihood of fading over time) this pen is not recommended for use in any legal or official documents. This is certainly not one to use when writing out your last will and testament!

As a pen, this is really smooth and easy to write with. The '0.7 mm tip' doesn't mean a great deal to me but what this equates to, in practice, is a fine but clear line which is easy to direct and control neatly, even for a young child who has only recently moved from pencil on to writing in pen.

The pen itself is a pretty stylish design with a distinctive silver swirl adorning its plastic case. The cap fits securely into place after use to prevent the ink drying up and fits securely over the base when the pen is in use to ensure that even my easily distracted ten year old can't manage to mislay the top. I do like the design and functionality of the pen and think it is an ideal addition to any school child's pencil case.

The only real drawback with these pens is that they haven't lasted particularly well with regular use. Whilst the highlighter hasn't seen a great deal of use as yet, the black pen was used on a daily basis while my son was at school and for homework. Even so, I was disappointed that this pen only lasted for around three weeks before the ink ran out. I would have expected the ink to last for much longer, given the relatively high selling price of the pens.

Refills are available for these pens but we haven't bought any refills or replacements as yet as I'm waiting for the BOGOF offer to start again. At the promotional price, I'll be happy to repurchase as these are an effective and practical option for young children but I don't think the full price offers particularly good value for money, in light of how quickly they run out.