Asked by: Baroness Rebuck (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings of their report Understanding progress in the 2020/21 academic year: Interim findings, published on 24 February, relating to estimated overall learning loss in reading in primary schools; and what powers the new Education Recovery Commissioner will have to direct the use of (1) additional, or (2) reallocated, resources, to literacy.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The ‘Understanding progress in the 2020/21 academic year’ report finds that in reading Year 3-9 pupils are on average around 1.6-2 months behind where we would expect them to be in a ‘normal’ year. For primary pupils, estimates are:
Year Group | Estimated Learning Loss in Reading |
Year 3 | 1.8 months |
Year 4 | 1.8 months |
Year 5 | 1.9 months |
Year 6 | 2.0 months |
The Government has invested £1.7 billion to give early years, schools and colleges support to help pupils get back on track, including additional funding for tutoring, early language support and summer schools.
We have also appointed an Education Recovery Commissioner to advise on this work. The objectives of the Education Recovery Commissioner, as outlined in the Terms of Reference, are to advise on the design and implementation of potential interventions that will help pupils catch up learning lost due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The Terms of Reference for the Education Recovery Commissioner is published here:
We are investing in a national network of English Hubs across the country to improve the teaching of literacy, focusing on Reception and Year One.
In 2018 the Department launched a £26.3 million English Hubs Programme dedicated to improving the teaching of reading. We have since invested a further £17 million in this school-to-school improvement programme, which focuses on systematic synthetic phonics, early language, and reading for pleasure. We have appointed 34 primary schools across England as English Hubs. The English Hubs programme is supporting nearly 3000 schools across England to improve their teaching of reading through systematic synthetic phonics, early language development, and reading for pleasure. The English Hubs are focused on improving educational outcomes for the most disadvantaged pupils in Reception and Year 1.
Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, English Hubs have continued to offer support and training to schools across the country by bringing much of their offer online.
Asked by: Baroness Rebuck (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what role the new Education Recovery Commissioner will play in helping to close the attainment gap in reading and maths between pupils in schools with high levels of disadvantage and those in schools in more affluent areas.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The objectives of the Education Recovery Commissioner, as outlined in the Terms of Reference, are to advise on the design and implementation of potential interventions that will help pupils to catch up on lost education due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Terms of Reference for the Education Recovery Commissioner are published here:
The department will continue to assess the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on pupils and their catch-up needs to help target support across the system effectively.
Maths
Our national network of 40 school-led Maths Hubs aims to help local schools improve the quality of their mathematics teaching based on best practice. The Maths Hubs programme aims to improve attainment gaps, which may be associated with disadvantage, gender, or other factors, and the programme’s capacity has been substantially expanded in the geographical areas where it is needed most.
Maths Hubs deliver our £100 million Teaching for Mastery programme, which is focused on depth of understanding, and is characterised by whole-class teaching where pupils work on the same content together ensuring no one gets left behind. It encourages all pupils with the belief that by working hard at mathematics they can succeed and rejects the idea that some pupils “can’t do maths”.
Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, Maths Hubs have continued to offer support and training to schools across the country by bringing much of their offer online. The department has also funded the development of free expert resources to support maths teaching, including a range of materials now available from the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Maths, as well publishing new guidance to support curriculum planning and prioritisation in primary schools.
Reading
In 2018, the department launched a £26.3 million English Hubs programme dedicated to improving the teaching of reading, particularly for disadvantaged children. We have since invested a further £17 million in this school-to-school improvement programme, which focuses on systematic synthetic phonics, early language, and reading for pleasure. We have appointed 34 primary schools across England as English Hubs. The English Hubs programme is supporting nearly 3000 schools across England to improve their teaching of reading through systematic synthetic phonics, early language development, and reading for pleasure. The English Hubs are focused on improving educational outcomes for the most disadvantaged pupils in Reception and Year 1.
The overall programme is aimed at improving the teaching of early reading across England. In this early delivery stage, we are focusing on systematic synthetic phonics, but our hubs will start to deliver medium-level support in all three priority areas: improving the teaching of systematic synthetic phonics; encouraging early language development; and developing a love of reading. For early language development, hubs will focus on providing evidence-based approaches to early language development and closing the word gap in Year Reception and Year 1, including appropriate use of formative assessment.
Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, English Hubs have continued to offer support and training to schools across the country by bringing much of their offer online.
Asked by: Baroness Rebuck (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement by the Prime Minister on 4 November (HC Deb, col 318), whether literacy is intended to be a part of the tutoring programme; and if so, (1) what plans they have to survey literacy levels across all age groups, (2) whether the tutoring will be available to all schools across England, and (3) what steps they are taking to ensure that adequate funding is available for that programme.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
We are providing £1 billion of catch-up support to schools to help make up for lost learning. All schools with pupils aged 5-16 are receiving their share of the £650 million catch-up premium, which can be used to prioritise support for all pupils. We are spending up to £350 million on the National Tutoring Programme (NTP). The NTP will provide additional, targeted support to disadvantaged children and young people in schools across England who need the most help to catch-up.
The NTP for 5-16 years olds went live on 2 November. The NTP offers tuition support for a range of curriculum subjects, including English, at both primary and secondary level. It is important that decisions about what support pupils receive are made locally by those who understand their needs. As such, teachers use their professional judgement to determine which pupils would most benefit from NTP support based on their need. Further information about the launch of the NTP is available here: https://nationaltutoring.org.uk/news/national-tutoring-programme-launches-in-schools.
Additionally, the NTP is supporting an oral language programme for reception-aged children. Any state-funded school with a reception class was able to register their interest in delivering the programme, with priority given to those schools with the highest levels of disadvantage (percentage of free school meals). Participating schools will begin delivery in January 2021. Further information about the oral language programme is available here: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/covid-19-resources/neli/.
We are also making funding available to school sixth forms, colleges, and all other 16-19 providers to offer support small group tuition for lower attaining 16-19 year olds, in English, maths, and other courses where learning has been disrupted as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. Further information about this is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-funding-16-to-19-tuition-fund.
Asked by: Baroness Rebuck (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Education Endowment Foundation’s publication Improving Literacy in Key Stage 1, published on 30 September 2016; and what additional funding they plan to provide to schools to improve literacy, including for (1) the accurate assessment of the capabilities and difficulties children have in literacy, and (2) for one-to-one tutoring for those in greatest need returning to school after the COVID-19 lockdown.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The Education Endowment Foundation’s publication emphasises the importance of systematic phonics approaches in reading and writing activities with pupils in key stage 1. There is sound evidence that systematic phonics is a highly effective method for teaching early reading. The evidence indicates that the teaching of phonics is most effective when combined with a language rich curriculum to develop children’s positive attitudes towards literacy. The National Curriculum for English places a renewed focus on the requirement for pupils to learn to read through systematic phonics, applying phonic knowledge and skills to word reading.
In 2018 the department launched a £26.3 million English Hubs Programme. The department appointed 34 primary schools across England as English Hubs. The English Hubs Programme is supporting nearly 3,000 schools across England to improve their teaching of reading through systematic synthetic phonics, early language development, and reading for pleasure. The English Hubs are focused on improving educational outcomes for the most disadvantaged pupils in reception and year 1. The Education Endowment Foundation’s publication has been used widely across the English Hub community.
The government has announced a catch up package worth £1 billion, including a ‘Catch up Premium’ worth a total of £650 million to support schools to make up for lost teaching time. Our expectation is that this funding will be spent on the additional activities required to support children and young people to catch up after a period of disruption to their education.
The package also includes the National Tutoring Programme which provides up to £350 million to support disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils. This will increase access to subsidised, high-quality tuition for the most disadvantaged young people, helping to accelerate their academic progress and tackling the attainment gap between them and their peers.
To support settings to make best use of this funding, the Education Endowment Foundation have published a COVID-19 support guide which includes evidence-based approaches to catch up for all students. Details can be found here: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/covid-19-resources/national-tutoring-programme/covid-19-support-guide-for-schools/.
Asked by: Baroness Rebuck (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they support UNESCO’s work in discovering what kind of literacy skills people need to navigate a digitally-mediated society; and what actions they plan to take in the UK to explore and fund effective adult literacy policies and programmes which leverage the opportunities that the digital world provides.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
We welcome the work that UNESCO is doing on digital literacy to highlight some of the challenges and opportunities that the digital world presents.
The Government supports adults in England to develop the basic English and digital expertise they need for employment and everyday life. We provide funding for adults to access a range of literacy training up to English GCSE and equivalent qualifications, and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses.
Provisional Further Education and Skills data shows that in 2016/17 the Government funded the participation of 536,700 adults in English courses and 114,400 adults in ESOL courses. We are also introducing a similar right to funding for specified Information and Communication Technology courses.
Asked by: Baroness Rebuck (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of how many adults in the UK lack basic digital skills, and of that number, how many are functionally illiterate; and what plans they have to ensure that such people do not end up marginalised.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Skills for Life Survey in 2011, assessed the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills of adults aged 16-64 in England using four competencies: word processing; emailing; spreadsheets; and a multiple-choice assessment of other ICT skills such as internet use (see table attached). The survey results demonstrated a broad correlation between the respondents’ performance in the ICT and in the literacy tests.
The Government is supporting adults in England to develop their basic digital skills for the workplace and in everyday life. We are introducing a new entitlement to fully-funded training in digital skills, which will mirror the current approach for improving literacy and numeracy.
The Department also funds the Future Digital Inclusion programme that aims to help one million adults gain basic digital skills by 2019. A majority of these adults are educated below Level 2, unemployed, in a low-income household, in receipt of means-tested benefits, or living in social or sheltered housing.
Asked by: Baroness Rebuck (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what research they have undertaken to better understand the impact on literacy levels of initiatives undertaken by voluntary sector organisations; and how they intend to ensure that funding is targeted where it will be most effective.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), which was set up in 2011 through a £125 million grant from the Government, received £10 million from the Department in 2012 specifically to fund and evaluate 24 projects focused on interventions to improve the literacy of pupils who do not achieve the expected standard in English at the end of primary school.
To date, the EEF has published evaluation reports on 26 literacy-related projects. Of these, 11 involved voluntary sector organisations. Details of all of these projects and the individual evaluation reports are published on the EEF website at: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/school-themes/literacy.
The findings from evaluations of these and other EEF funded projects are incorporated into the EEF’s teaching and learning toolkit. This provides school leaders and teachers with an accessible summary of evidence from robust research studies on the impact and cost effectiveness of a range of educational interventions. This information can be used by voluntary sector organisations to inform their own approaches. The toolkit is published on the EEF website.
Asked by: Baroness Rebuck (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress is being made in using behavioural insights to identify how to motivate adults to improve their reading skills and to encourage learners to keep studying once enrolled on a course.
Answered by Lord Nash
This Government understands the importance of strong literacy skills and makes English provision a priority for support within the adult skills system. We know that it can be difficult for adults to return to learning and to persist with their studies with the competing demands of work and daily life. That is why we are working alongside the Behavioural Insights Centre for Adult Skills and Knowledge to trial a range of interventions to identify how to motivate adults to engage in learning and to keep studying once enrolled on a course.
Trial results point to a number of positive findings. For example:
The Government is now working with the Behavioural Insights Centre for Adult Skills and Knowledge to disseminate best practice from these behavioural insights trials amongst providers of basic skills courses.
Asked by: Baroness Rebuck (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the finding in the House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Committee's Fifth Report of Session 2014–15 that the ability to gain literacy and numeracy skills is a fundamental right of all adults, what steps they are taking to ensure that the one in six of the population with poor literacy skills have opportunities to gain at least entry level literacy skills.
Answered by Lord Nash
This Government understands the importance of strong literacy skills and makes English provision a priority for support within the adult skills system. We fully fund, through a statutory entitlement, all adults to achieve their first English GCSE at grade C or above as well as other qualifications which help them get to that level. We also support English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision, in addition to DCLG’s community-based programmes and investment in Syrian refugees’ English Language training through the Syrian resettlement programme.
This provision is available for a wide range of learners including:
Prisoners, through the Offender Learning and Skills Service;
Learners in the community, including through Family English, Maths and Language;
People who need ESOL;
Trainees as part of their traineeship;
Apprentices as part of their apprenticeship;
Jobseekers.
To enable these learners to improve their literacy skills, we have embedded English at the heart of all our major programmes. This means:
Learners who did not achieve a good GCSE pass in English by the age of 16 are now required to continue to study the subject post-16;
Since 2014/15, the English requirement for Intermediate Apprenticeships has been stronger, with all apprentices who have already achieved level 1 English having to work towards level 2;
Since 2014/15, young people undertaking a traineeship have been required to study English unless they already have level 2 qualifications in the subjects;
We have reformed GCSEs to ensure they are more stretching and provide greater assurance of core literacy skills than the old GCSEs. In line with the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee recommendation, we recognise that some people are not ready to take GCSE so we are also improving the rigour and relevance of English Functional Skills qualifications, which are taken by many students and apprentices aged 16 and over. We have commissioned the Education and Training Foundation to revise the National Literacy (and Numeracy) Standards and reform Functional Skills with the new qualifications being delivered from September 2018.
To ensure high quality provision is delivered, we have invested over £30m over the past 3 years to improve the quality of the English (and maths) workforce in further education, driving forward improvements in governance and leadership.
To ensure prisoners have the opportunity to improve their literacy skills, Government accepted in principle the recommendations of the review led by Dame Sally Coates on prison education which will include developing a new curriculum for the teaching of basic literacy in prisons.
Lastly, we are undertaking a range of research to better understand where Government investment in English has the greatest impact and delivers value for money. As recommended by the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee in their 14/15 report, Government is using behavioural insights to identify how to motivate adults to improve their English and encourage learners to keep studying once enrolled on a course. I am pleased to report that very positive trial results will be published shortly by the Behavioural Insights Team. This report includes trial findings working with the Army as a significant provider of workplace literacy training.
Asked by: Baroness Rebuck (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which literacy charities they have provided with funding over the last five years, and how much funding they have provided in each case.
Answered by Lord Nash
We have undertaken a thorough search of our records in the Department for Education and contacted the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for International Development, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, the Department for Health and the Ministry of Justice. The list below sets out the results of this search:
The National Literacy Trust - £1,485,145
Centre for Literacy in Primary Education - £1,450
Book Trust - £34,716,302
The Reading Agency - £2,652,880
Developments in Literacy Trust UK - £249,995
The government is committed to improving literacy. We have introduced a new, more rigorous national curriculum which includes greater focus on reading. The national curriculum for English places a greater focus on reading and requires pupils to study a range of books, poems and plays to develop a life-long love of literature. Through reading and writing pupils will have an opportunity to develop intellectually, spiritually and socially, and develop a life-long love of culture.
Between September 2011 and October 2013, the Department for Education provided £23.7 million in match funding to over 14,000 primary schools, enabling them to buy systematic synthetic phonics products and training. In 2012 we introduced a phonics screening check at age 6 so that teachers can intervene early to help children catch up with their reading.
In November 2015 we announced the introduction of a year 7 resit test for pupils who did not achieve the expected standard at key stage 2 in reading or maths. Since September 2014 we have required 16-19 year olds not holding good passes in GCSE maths to continue to work towards them. This resulted in 7,500 more students aged 17 and above securing A*-C GCSE Maths last summer.