The proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard in the phonics screening check this year has increased slightly since last year - but is still below pre-pandemic levels of achievement, government data released this morning shows.

Nearly eight in 10 (79 per cent) of pupils met the expected standard in the check in Year 1, up from 75 per cent in 2022. 

However, the levels of achievement are still below pupils’ performance in 2019, when 82 per cent of Year 1 pupils reached the standard.

The attainment gap for disadvantaged students has also narrowed but is still wider than before the pandemic. Pupils with special educational needs and disabilities also performed better than they did last year.

Pupils sitting the phonics screening check last year were only the second cohort to sit the check since 2019 as assessments were cancelled during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

In Year 2, 89 per cent of pupils met the expected standard in the phonics screening check, up from 87 per cent in 2022.

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Attainment gap narrowing for disadvantaged students

The proportion of disadvantaged Year 1 pupils achieving the expected standard in the phonics screening check increased from 62 per cent to 67 per cent, compared with 80 per cent to 83 per cent for their non-disadvantaged peers.

This means the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers is two percentage points narrower than last year, but is one percentage point wider than in 2019.

The proportion of eligible Year 1 pupils classified as disadvantaged has increased in the past two years to 23 per cent, compared with 19 per cent in 2019.

Girls continue to perform better than boys

Attainment in the phonics screening check has increased since 2022 for both boys and girls. The proportion of boys meeting the expected standard in Year 1 increased from 72 per cent to 76 per cent, while the figures are 79 per cent to 82 per cent for girls.

More girls continue to meet the phonics standard in Year 1 than boys. The gender attainment gap is 6 percentage points in 2023, one point lower than in 2022. 

Schools minister Nick Gibb said: “Teaching children to read using phonics has been a key part of this government’s focus on driving up school standards over the past 13 years, and our children are now the best readers in the West.

“Today’s results reflect the hard work of our teachers and show strong progress as pupils continue to recover from the impact of the pandemic.”