Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on the educational attainment of white working class boys of encouraging those boys to develop their (a) reading skills and (b) vocabulary at an early age.

The Department is committed to raising literacy standards – ensuring all children, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, can read fluently and with understanding. Fluency in the English language is an essential foundation for success in all subjects. Improving vocabulary and reading skills are fundamental parts of this.

Our proposed reforms to the Early Years Foundation Stage, including revisions to the curriculum activities and assessment goals under the seven areas of learning, are intended to improve early language and literacy outcomes for all children – particularly those from a disadvantaged background. We have also launched Hungry Little Minds – a three-year campaign to encourage parents to engage in activities that support their child’s language and literacy.

To continue improving early reading, in 2018 we launched the £26.3 million English Hubs Programme. 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.

Evidence has shown that phonics is a highly effective component in the development of early reading skills, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The disadvantage gap in the phonics screening check has decreased from 17% in 2012, to 14% in 2019.