This government is committed to raising standards in literacy and numeracy, the foundations for children’s success in education and beyond.

The department has delivered a range of measures to improve the teaching of English. The department has published a Reading Framework, providing guidance on the teaching of reading in primary schools, launched the National Professional Qualification for Leading Literacy to train existing teachers to become literacy experts, and is conducting a review into best practice in writing teaching.

This has been backed by investment. In 2018, the department launched a £67 million English Hubs Programme to improve the teaching of reading, with a focus on phonics, early language development and reading for pleasure. Currently, 14 schools are receiving intensive support from Springhill Hub in the Portsmouth Local Authority District. This is in addition to the two schools that have already graduated from the programme.

Similarly, in 2014, the department introduced a national network of 40 Maths Hubs, to help local schools improve the quality of their teaching. Maths Hubs deliver the department’s Teaching for Mastery programme, which is bringing teaching practice from high performing East Asian jurisdictions to primary and secondary schools across England. The Solent Maths Hub covers Portsmouth as well as Hampshire, Southampton and the Isle of Wight.

The Prime Minister also recently announced more investment in mathematics, as part of the new Advanced British Standard qualification, including some £60 million over two years to improve mathematics education.

In addition to support provided through the department’s hubs programmes, Portsmouth is receiving further dedicated support as one of 24 Priority Education Investment Areas identified in the Schools White Paper. Portsmouth will receive £1.8 million as part of a national investment of around £40 million of additional funding for bespoke interventions, including in literacy and numeracy, to address local needs. The aim is to address entrenched underperformance, in areas with some of the highest rates of disadvantage in the country.

As the hon. Gentleman will know, owing to the pandemic we did see a fall in writing and maths standards. Reading standards rose, and then fell by two points this year. However, reading standards today are broadly similar to those before the pandemic, and since 2010 both reading and maths have improved enormously in primary schools throughout the country. I am confident that we will meet the 90% target by 2030.

The department welcomes the increase in reading attainment from 73% in 2019 to 74% in 2022, despite the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, attainment in maths and writing has fallen, with the percentage of children meeting the expected standard in maths being 71% (down eight percentage points from 2019), and a decrease of nine percentage points in writing, down from 78% in 2019 to 69% in 2022.

It is vital that the department knows the impact on this cohort of pupils nationally and can give support to schools that need it the most. This is why we went ahead with the full programme of statutory assessments in 2022.

Unlike GCSE and A level exams, key stage 2 assessments were not adapted for pupils in 2022, and the expected standards in the assessments remained the same as in 2019. This consistency means assessments can be used to help understand more clearly the impact of the pandemic on pupils and schools, and how this varies between groups of pupils, schools and local authority areas. National level attainment data at key stage 2 will give us an important baseline as we work towards our target of 90% of children leaving primary school at the expected standard in reading, writing and maths by 2030.

The department is committed to raising literacy standards by following the evidence.

The evidence for systematic phonics is very secure. For example, the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) have carried out a comprehensive review of robust studies on the impact of phonics and they found that systematic phonics is the most effective approach for teaching pupils to decode, including older pupils struggling with decoding, when embedded in a rich literacy environment.

The national curriculum is explicit that learning to decode words is just one element of becoming a fluent reader. This is based on the Simple View of Reading (explained in more detail in the July 2021 Reading Framework), which describes reading as the product of both decoding and language comprehension. This can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-reading-framework-teaching-the-foundations-of-literacy.

The Schools White Paper builds on the department’s record of supporting the improvement of literacy standards over the past decade, including the introduction of the Phonics Screening Check; the English Hubs Programme; the publication of the reading framework; and the validation of phonics programmes. The English Hubs are currently delivering intensive support to over 1,000 partner schools and will continue to support schools to drive up literacy standards, including driving improvements in the quality of reading education for those not meeting expected standards in literacy. The full White Paper can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/opportunity-for-all-strong-schools-with-great-teachers-for-your-child.

The department will also make it easier for schools to access the best evidence of 'what works' by re-endowing the EEF with at least £100 million, developing and scaling literacy and numeracy interventions with over £55 million via our Accelerator Fund, and introducing a menu of recommended evidence-based approaches linked to the Pupil Premium.

In addition, from Autumn 2022, the National Professional Qualification for Leading Literacy will be available. This qualification has been designed to develop teachers’ expertise in leading the development of pupils’ language, reading, and writing in all key stages and is aimed at teachers and leaders who have, or are aspiring to have, responsibilities for leading literacy across a school, year group, key stage, or phase. The content framework which underpins this qualification was published in October 2021 and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-professional-qualifications-npqs-reforms/national-professional-qualifications-npqs-reforms. Further details around eligibility and funding for this qualification will be announced in due course.

National Literacy Trust research published in November 2019 showed that the gap in book ownership between disadvantaged children and their peers has almost halved in the past six years (from 6.1% in 2013 to 3.3% in 2019).

The Department wants all children to be able to read well, with fluency and understanding. In 2018 we launched a £26.3 million English Hubs Programme. The English Hubs are focused on improving educational outcomes for the most disadvantaged pupils in Reception and Year 1. We have appointed 34 primary schools across England as English Hubs. The English Hubs Programme is supporting nearly 3000 schools across England to improve their teaching of reading through systematic synthetic phonics, early language development, and reading for pleasure. Springhill Primary School is an English Hub which aims to support 170 schools in its local area, which includes Portsmouth.

The Department recognises that disadvantaged pupils may face greater challenges to succeed at school. Since 2011 we have provided schools with more than £15 billion in extra funding through the pupil premium so that disadvantaged pupils can receive the support they need. School leaders are free to use the pupil premium as they choose; drawing on eight years of research the Education Endowment Foundation recommends focusing the grant on meeting basic needs, that can include providing books, as well as teaching quality and targeted academic programmes.