The proportion of children meeting the expected standard in the phonics screening check in Year 1 has fallen to its lowest since 2014, with just three-quarters achieving the level, figures published today by the Department for Education reveal.
The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in Year 1 fell from 82 per cent in 2019 to 75 per cent this year.
The statistics also reveal that fewer than nine in ten pupils (87 per cent) reached the standard by the end of Year 2, the first time the figure has fallen below this threshold since 2014.
These were the first phonics screening check results since 2019 due to assessments being cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.
In 2012, the first year of the test, 58 per cent of pupils reached the expected standard at the end of Year 1.
Phonics disadvantage gap is the biggest ever
The gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers in the phonics screening check has grown to its biggest-ever level - an 18 percentage point difference.
This year 62 per cent of disadvantaged pupils reached the expected standard in phonics, compared with 80 per cent of their peers not known to be disadvantaged.
Before this year, the biggest such disadvantage gap was 17 percentage points in 2012, when 45 per cent of disadvantaged pupils met the expected standard in Year 1, compared with 62 per cent of pupils not known to be disadvantaged.
Girls continue to outperform boys
The proportion of girls achieving the expected standard in the phonics screening check fell from 85 per cent in 2019 to 79 per cent this year.
Meanwhile, the proportion of boys meeting this level fell from 78 per cent in 2019 to 72 per cent.
