The right hon. Gentleman, as a former Minister in the Department, knows all too well that he and others were cautioned about how they should be using data. When we look at the raw numbers, we see that under the last Conservative Government, reading standards were going down, as were standards in maths and science. One in four children did not reach the required standard at the end of primary school, and one in five young people was persistently absent from our schools. We will drive high and rising standards right across academic subjects, but we will also ensure that all our children and young people have a range of opportunities in music, sport, art and drama, not just those with parents who can afford it.

The department has recently made an assessment of the evidence behind the Turn on the Subtitles campaign and the current evidence is inconclusive as to whether turning on the subtitles improves children’s reading. It is the choice of parents and carers whether their child watches television with the subtitles on.

The government is committed to continuing to raise literacy standards, ensuring all children can read fluently. There is a supportive package of measures in place which aims to benefit the most disadvantaged pupils and is a key step in our mission to level up education standards in England. This includes the £67 million English Hubs programme which is now in its sixth year of delivery. It also incorporates the updated Reading Framework, an updated list of validated phonics programmes, funding for the purchase of phonics programmes and the National Professional Qualification in Leading Literacy.

​​England participates in several studies that compare reading and mathematics for school-aged pupils internationally. These studies are the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). The department took part in the most recent iterations of all three studies: PISA 2022, PIRLS 2021, and TIMSS 2019.

​​The latest results from PISA show that, while the pandemic affected the study, England was among the highest performing European countries participating in the study and performed significantly above the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average in both reading and mathematics.

​​The latest results from PIRLS showed that England achieved an average score of 558. This is statistically significantly higher than both the International Median score of 520, as well as the European Median score of 524, though not significantly different to England’s scores in most previous PIRLS cycles. It is not possible to compare results to Northern Ireland because of differences in the assessment period, whilst Scotland and Wales did not participate in the study. England’s PIRLS 2021 national report can be found: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pirls-2021-reading-literacy-performance-in-england.

​​The latest results from TIMSS showed that between 1995 and 2019, the mathematics performance of Year 5 and Year 9 pupils in England has improved, with England achieving its highest ever score in mathematics at Year 5.

​​Further information on the studies can be found at the following links: https://www.oecd.org/pisa/, https://timssandpirls.bc.edu/.

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The government is committed to continuing to raise literacy standards, ensuring that all children, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, can read fluently and with understanding.

The department funds a broad range of supportive measures designed to improve literacy rates amongst all pupils.

Since 2010, the government has strengthened the effective teaching of phonics by placing it at the heart of the curriculum and introducing a statutory phonics screening check in 2012 for pupils at the end of year 1 to help schools measure progress. The government wants to improve literacy levels to give all children a solid base upon which to build as they progress through school by ensuring high quality, systematic synthetic phonics teaching.

In 2018, the department launched the English Hubs Programme to improve the teaching of reading with a focus on phonics, early language and reading for pleasure. Since its launch, the Programme has provided appropriate and targeted support to several thousands of primary schools across England. The department has so far invested over £67 million in this school-to-school improvement programme and has committed a further £40 million up to the end of the 2024/25 financial year, with £25.6 million of this committed for 2023/24.

In July 2021, the department published the ‘Reading Framework: teaching the foundations of literacy’ non-statutory guidance which was aimed at improving the teaching of the foundations of reading in primary schools by defining pedagogy and best practice. The department published an expanded Reading Framework in July 2023, which builds on the original Framework and covers the teaching of reading in key stages 2 and 3, including guidance on how to help pupils who need more support to learn to read proficiently.

Also in July, the department announced its intention to launch an evidence review of best practice in the teaching of writing. This will be a valuable resource for schools and will inform further research and guidance. The scope of this review will likely include what the department wants children to be able to achieve at the end of primary school so that they are set up well to succeed in secondary school.

Furthermore, the department is committed to offering teachers access to high quality continuous professional development. The Leading Literacy National Professional Qualification (NPQLL), launched in October 2022, supports school literacy leaders to have a secure understanding of the importance of literacy and recognise the influence it has on pupils’ future academic achievement, wellbeing and success in life. It will support leaders to develop expertise in the teaching of reading and writing and enable them to share their expertise effectively to improve literacy outcomes for every child.

On 28 September, we announced a new Prisoner Education Service to improve the literacy, numeracy and vocational skills of prisoners. We are embedding literacy in workshops and vocational training, and we are implementing the Literacy Innovation Fund by piloting two specialist reading and literacy projects across fifteen prisons to help prisoners with the lowest reading levels.  This is alongside other Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) projects such as Shannon Trust and Leaders are Readers.

Functional Skills in literacy are subject to ambitious contractual targets with providers financially penalised if they do not meet them. Achievement against literacy functional skills has improved year on year since the end of Covid.

Whole prison reading strategies, recognised as good practice by HMIP, have been developed in all prisons, and reading leads are ensuring that literacy is at the heart of each prison's education provision. Prisoners’ reading levels are assessed on entry so that Personal Learning Plans are in place and the right support for reading is available to them.

Each prison has a library which holds essential legal texts, promotes reading for pleasure and often offer a range of reading activities.  We are improving the delivery of library services and have recently updated and upgraded library contracts, including an uplift in funding.

Prisons have continued to rollout Storybooks Dads and Mums, which helps over 5,000 prisoners a year record bedtime stories for their children, and rolled out new technology, including laptops for prisoners to take part in online courses with the Open University.

In addition, new contracts for education providers in 2025 will have robust targets on maths, English and vocational qualifications, and quality of delivery.

All prisons are required to have a library and prisoners are routinely offered a minimum of 30 minutes library access a week. We do not currently collect data on prisoner attendance and engagement with the library.

All prisons also offer literacy education as part of their core curriculum. Most education services are outsourced to education specialists (for example Further Education Colleges) and supplemented by bespoke partnership arrangements with third sector organisations who support the teaching of reading. HMPPS are also working to embed literacy skills in workshops and vocational training.

Reliable data from 2005-19 is not available due to changes in the way education provision has been contracted and provided although, since 2019, all prisoners have been screened for literacy, numeracy and Learning Difficulties and Disabilities (LDD) on entry. Prisons provide a range of support according to the needs of the individual and our main education providers are required to put in place provision for prisoners with additional learning needs such as dyslexia.

This table sets out the number of prisoners participating in English functional skills, taking English assessments and prisoners identified as likely to have LDD since 2019 under the current MoJ commissioned contracts. 2020-22 participation figures have been impacted by the reduction in classroom learning during the pandemic, but we are now building back to pre-pandemic levels of learning. Statistics for 2022-23 will be published later this year. Due to the dynamic nature of the prison population, it is also not possible to provide a percentage proportion of prisoners participating.

[1] Levels of learning during April 2020-March 2022 were greatly impacted by the reduction in classroom learning necessary for mitigating the health impacts of the Covid pandemic

All prisons are required to have a library and prisoners are routinely offered a minimum of 30 minutes library access a week. We do not currently collect data on prisoner attendance and engagement with the library.

All prisons also offer literacy education as part of their core curriculum. Most education services are outsourced to education specialists (for example Further Education Colleges) and supplemented by bespoke partnership arrangements with third sector organisations who support the teaching of reading. HMPPS are also working to embed literacy skills in workshops and vocational training.

Reliable data from 2005-19 is not available due to changes in the way education provision has been contracted and provided although, since 2019, all prisoners have been screened for literacy, numeracy and Learning Difficulties and Disabilities (LDD) on entry. Prisons provide a range of support according to the needs of the individual and our main education providers are required to put in place provision for prisoners with additional learning needs such as dyslexia.

This table sets out the number of prisoners participating in English functional skills, taking English assessments and prisoners identified as likely to have LDD since 2019 under the current MoJ commissioned contracts. 2020-22 participation figures have been impacted by the reduction in classroom learning during the pandemic, but we are now building back to pre-pandemic levels of learning. Statistics for 2022-23 will be published later this year. Due to the dynamic nature of the prison population, it is also not possible to provide a percentage proportion of prisoners participating.

[1] Levels of learning during April 2020-March 2022 were greatly impacted by the reduction in classroom learning necessary for mitigating the health impacts of the Covid pandemic

There are direct links between education and reducing reoffending. Education is a factor in promoting reintegration and rehabilitation. While there is rightly a focus in prison on education for employment, too many prisoners have very poor literacy skills, which impacts their ability to access education. What steps is my right hon. Friend taking to improve literacy in the prison population?

We are working to deliver a Prisoner Education Service that equips prisoners with the numeracy, literacy, and skills they need to get jobs after they leave custody.

Since we introduced more consistent initial assessments in 2019, data has been relatively stable and indicates that many prisoners arrive with low levels of literacy. Our latest published data shows that, from April 2021 to March 2022, 61% of English initial assessment outcomes were at the entry levels 1-3 (equivalent to primary school). Data for 2022 will be published next year.

Improving functional skills is a significant element of education provision and we set ambitious targets for education providers regarding learners successfully obtaining qualifications.

We have also made progress on actions following Ofsted and HM Inspectorate of Prisons recent review of reading in prisons, including ensuring appropriate functional skills qualifications are delivered, increasing the scrutiny of library provision and piloting reading assessment tools.

To improve support for prisoners with additional learning needs we have started to recruit new support managers for prisoners with conditions such as learning disabilities, autism, acquired brain injury or ADHD and we are trialling the use of new reading assessment tools.

We are also trailing new approaches to encourage literacy including embedding literacy in workshops and vocational training as well as in football coaching via the Twinning project.

Support is available to claimants to help them make the transition to Universal Credit. Universal Support is help for those who need assistance to manage their claim online and/or help with budgeting in order to manage their monthly payments and prioritise essential bills such as rent and utilities. Where claimants have no capability to make or manage their claim on-line, telephone and face to face support is available. Alternatively, an Appointee could make the claim on their behalf and maintain their online account.

We are continuously reviewing and improving the service for vulnerable people who claim UC, including how they are identified and supported both internally and via referral to local services delivered in partnership activity with other relevant agencies and organisations.

Identifying skills needs (sometimes called skills screenings) is an integral part of work coach meetings with claimants. This process involves observation and discussion to gather evidence on skills, qualifications, previous training and work history.

The information gathered determines whether the claimant has any potential skills gaps in relation to their individual job goals and jobs readily available in the local labour market.

Where further investigation is needed for potential basic skills needs (English/maths/ICT) claimants can be asked to complete the paper-based Fast Track Screening Tool. The tool is a short series of questions completed by the claimant and marked by the work coach to indicate potential basic skills needs.

Where a potential skills need is identified, the claimant can then be referred to an initial assessment with a learning provider (DfE funded through the Adult Education Budget) to confirm their skill level or alternatively referred for a more detailed assessment with the National Careers Service or equivalent in Scotland and Wales.

Work Coaches use the evidence gathered through the initial screening and subsequent provider assessment to decide what remedial training or other action is required to help the claimant find work.