Primary school pupils show improvement in their reading ability as attainment in this year’s reading assessment increases since last year.
Education standards continue to improve as new statistics on the phonics screening check published today (12 October) show 79% of five- and six-year-olds met the expected standard, up from 75% last year.
Phonics is a body of knowledge that is necessary for pupils to learn to read and spell, at whatever age. Young children learning to read are taught how to recognise the sounds that each individual letter makes, as well as the skill of blending the individual sounds together to read.
Improvements in children’s reading ability in English primary schools builds on the international success earlier this year, when England came fourth for primary reading proficiency, out of 43 countries that tested children of the same age in the highly anticipated Progress in International Reading Literacy Study.
