Free school pupils score higher in phonics check
Katy Morton
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Children attending free schools and converter academies outperformed those in sponsored academies and local authority-run schools in the phonics check.
The latest results from the year 1 phonics screening check, published today, reveal that 87 per cent of pupils in mainstream free schools and 83 per cent of pupils from mainstream converter academies met the ‘expected standard’.
However, 82 per cent of pupils in maintained schools met the standard, compared to 80 per cent of pupils in mainstream sponsored academies.
However, the statistics acknowledge that there are far fewer free schools (188) than local authority maintained (10,875) and academy schools (4,760).
Overall, the statistics show that 82 per cent of pupils achieved the 'expected standard' - the same as last year. This is the first year since 2012 that the percentage meeting the required standard has not increased.
Teaching unions and campaigners branded the phonics check as a 'pointless' waste of time.
All children in maintained schools in England are required to take the reading check - which tests whether they are able to decode words using phonics - at the end of Year 1, when they are typically six-years-old.
The check is administered by the child’s teacher one-on-one and involves pupils reading aloud from a list of 40 words, which includes made-up words, to check that they are able to read using phonic decoding.
Children who do not meet the required standard have to re-take the check at the end of Year 2.
The statistics also show that more girls than boys continue to meet the expected standard in Year 1.
A total of 85 per cent of girls and 78 per cent of boys met the phonics standard, a gap of seven percentage points, which remains the same as last year.
The gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers meeting the phonics standard also remains unchanged from 2018.
This year, 43 per cent of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) met the standard in Year 1.
Among pupils with SEN, 20 per cent of those with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan and 48 per cent of those on SEND support met the standard.
There was no difference in the phonics attainment of pupils with a first language other than English.
A breakdown of the figures by area shows that children in London perform the best in the country.
Government comment
School standards minister Nick Gibb said, ‘If children are to achieve their full potential it’s vital that they are given firm foundations to build on – and that’s what these statistics show is happening. It’s particularly pleasing to see free schools doing so well, illustrating the important role they play in the system.
‘Mastering phonics, which provides a solid foundation for reading, along with basic numeracy and literacy, means these pupils will be able go on to apply these skills in more and more advanced ways.
‘It’s because of the hard work of teachers and our keen focus on raising standards at the earliest stages of education that we’ve been able to see these results.’
Sector response
The More Than A Score campaign group criticised the Government for ‘ignoring the fact that almost one in five six-year-olds have been branded failures and will have to re-sit the test’.
They argued, ‘Drilling children in nonsense words just to sit a formal test is the wrong way to inspire a love of reading.
‘The phonics screening check is another stop on the conveyor belt of pointless testing in primary schools. It provides no useful information to teachers or parents.’
Teaching unions the NAHT and National Education Union (NEU) were also critical of the screening check.
NAHT’s general secretary Paul Whiteman said, ‘The phonics screening check is a poor use of staff time and should not be compulsory for children.
‘Statutory testing distorts teaching. Rather than focus on high stakes tests, we must trust professionals to use continual, low-level assessments to reinforce learning.
Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU, added, ‘The over-emphasis on phonics has distorted the teaching of reading in schools, and has produced no discernible increase in children’s ability to read with understanding and pleasure.
'The phonics check is another example of a test which undermines, rather than supports, the principle of a broad and engaging curriculum in primary schools. We call for it to be independently reviewed, so that its value and effects can be objectively evaluated.’
