Written question asked by John Bercow (Conservative) on Tuesday, 31 October 2000, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 6 November 2000. It was answered by Baroness Morris of Yardley (Labour) on Monday, 6 November 2000 on behalf of the Department for Education and Employment.

Dept for Education and Employment

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the phonetic approach to the teaching of reading. - Inc figures and ref to 'Progression on Phonics'.

Answer: Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the phonetic approach to the teaching of reading. [136194] Ms Estelle Morris: The National Literacy Strategy, which is based on research and inspection evidence of best practice, gives a strong emphasis to the systematic teaching of phonics. As part of the strategy, we have provided all primary schools with practical guidance on the teaching of phonics in the booklet "Progression in Phonics". Since the implementation of the literacy strategy began, there has been a 10 percentage point increase, to 75 per cent., in the percentage of 11-year-olds achieving the standards expected for their age in English.

Secondary information