Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is planning to take to monitor training uptake among early years staff for delivery of the revised phonics-based framework.

The writing framework builds on the success of the government’s reading framework and its focus on phonics teaching, which has seen 100,000 more children every year build strong foundations in reading.

The writing framework is the department’s first step in a longer-term strategy to support schools to improve writing teaching and attainment. Given the department’s commitment to a record 75% of children reaching a good level of development at the end of reception by 2028, we encourage schools to prioritise reception year, particularly early literacy skills such as writing.

The writing framework emphasises the important role that reception year plays in building the foundations for writing which supports children throughout primary school and underpins their success at the end of key stage 2. The department has advised that during the 2025/26 academic year, schools should read the writing framework and use the audits to evaluate their current provision and plan improvements.

English Hubs will conduct webinars throughout the 2025/26 academic year, aimed at teachers and subject leads, focusing on the key messages and section summaries of the framework.