Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to tackle regional discrepancies in primary age reading levels.

The government is committed to eliminating illiteracy so that all children are equipped to succeed in education and in life. The national curriculum for English introduced last year places a renewed focus on the requirement for pupils to learn to read through systematic phonics, as evidence shows this is the most effective approach to teaching early reading to all children. We believe poor reading outcomes in all parts of the country are best addressed through the implementation of the national curriculum and the other steps we have taken to improve literacy levels for all children.

To boost the quality of phonics teaching, we have provided £23.7 million in match funding to over 14,000 primary schools, enabling them to buy systematic synthetic phonics products and training. A phonics screening check has also been introduced to help teachers identify children who may need extra support to develop their phonic knowledge. The proportion of 6-year-olds achieving the expected standards in the phonics screening check has risen from 58% to 74% between 2012 and 2014. That is equivalent to 102,000 more children reading more effectively than in 2012.

The 2014 Key Stage 2 results show that the percentage of pupils reaching or exceeding the expected standard in reading at the end of primary school increased by three percentage points from 2013, to 89%.

For pupils who do not reach the expected level in reading by the end of primary school, we have introduced the year 7 literacy and numeracy Catch-up Premium. This funding – £500 per pupil – enables secondary schools to deliver additional support for those pupils that most need it.