A report this week from the Education Policy Institute (Campbell & Kelly, 2024) finds no evidence that the check has improved key stage 1 and 2 reading results or narrowed attainment gaps.
However, the study does find a relationship between the screening check and the identification of SEND in year 2.
The phonics screening check was introduced nationally for all year 1 pupils in 2012 by the then coalition government.
The DfE at the time said that the purpose of the check was to support progress towards fluency in reading and “confirm whether each child has learnt phonic decoding to an age-appropriate standard”. Schools are required to ensure that any pupils not meeting expected standards in the check “continue to receive support in phonics”.
The EPI’s study uses national pupil-level census data for all children in year 1 in England from 2009 (well before the check was introduced) to 2018. It looks at children’s key stage 1 reading and writing results, and key stage 2 reading results. It finds:
No evidence that key stage 1 reading and writing results improved as a direct result of the check’s introduction in 2012.No evidence that key stage 2 reading results have improved since the introduction of the check. However, it is difficult to examine whether the check may have had an impact at key stage 2 because reformed assessments at this stage began in 2016.No evidence that the check has narrowed attainment gaps by the end of primary school, this includes gaps between higher and lower-attaining groups.
However, the study does find that the check has helped schools to identify pupils with SEND, with the findings suggesting that children who “fail” the check are more likely to be newly recorded as having SEND in year 2.
The researchers do emphasise that because the check was introduced to all pupils nationally at the same time, it is “impossible to perform a definitive causal quantitative national evaluation of its impacts”.
However, they add: “Nevertheless, it is important to consider all evidence on the consequences of the check, because it is a key policy in teaching children to read and raising literacy skills.”
The research also includes survey findings from key stage 1 teachers, gathered using TeacherTapp. The results show that a majority of teachers report spending 30 to 60 minutes a day on phonics lessons in the fortnight leading up to the screening check.
And when asked for their views on the check, 39% of teachers said it “should be scrapped”, while 14% felt it should remain unchanged. Another 24% believed the check should be retained but with significant changes.
The report recommends that the new government set-up an independent, “evidence-informed” review into whether the phonics screening check “is an effective national intervention that helps children learn to read”. It suggests this review could be undertaken alongside the on-going Curriculum and Assessment Review.
The report adds: “The Department for Education should transparently and widely consider the costs and benefits of the check, and of alternatives: including no check, and other strategies for supporting children’s reading development.”
- Campbell & Kelly: Reading the data: What can quantitative analyses tell us about the national impacts of the phonics screening check? EPI, 2024: https://epi.org.uk/publications-and-research/what-can-quantitative-analyses-tell-us-about-the-national-impact-of-the-phonics-screening-check/