Phonics results for 5 to 7 year olds

Published 20 April 2020

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Contents

1. Main facts and figures

• 82% of pupils met the expected standard in phonics in year 1 (at 5 to 6 years old) in the 2018 to 2019 school year
• 91% of pupils had met the standard by the end of year 2 (at 6 to 7 years old)
• pupils from the Chinese ethnic group were the most likely out of all ethnic groups to meet the expected standard in both year 1 and 2
• White Irish Traveller pupils were the least likely out of all ethnic groups to meet the expected standard in both year 1 and 2
• in every ethnic group, girls were more likely than boys to meet the expected standard in year 1 and 2
• in every ethnic group, pupils eligible for free school meals were less likely to meet the expected standard than other pupils

Things you need to know

In the 2018 to 2019 school year, there were 649,152 pupils in year 1 and 665,493 in year 2.

In year 1, ethnicity was known for 98% of pupils. In year 2, ethnicity was known for 99% of pupils.

Of the pupils whose ethnicity was known:

• 73% of pupils were White
• 11% were Asian
• 6% had Mixed ethnicity
• 5% were Black
• 1% were from the Chinese ethnic group
• 2% were from Other ethnic groups

Results for the Isles of Scilly and the City of London are not included in local authority breakdowns as they only have 1 school each.

There were 2,359 Gypsy and Roma pupils and 650 Traveller of Irish Heritage pupils. Please use caution when interpreting figures for these groups as they are based on small numbers of pupils.

This data only includes pupils in state-funded schools.

105,516 pupils (16%) were eligible for free school meals.

School-level data is not published for phonics.

What the data measures

This data measures the percentage of pupils who met the expected standard in the phonics screening check in both:

• year 1 (when pupils are 5 to 6 years old)
• year 2 (when pupils are 6 to 7 years old)

The year 2 results include pupils who:

• had met the expected standard in year 1 (in the 2017 to 2018 school year)
• retook the screening check or were taking it for the first time in year 2

Phonics is an approach to teaching reading in which pupils sound out words and combine sound-spelling patterns.

The phonics screening check is designed to confirm that pupils have met an appropriate standard in phonics.

The ethnic categories used in this data

This data groups ethnicities from the Department for Education’s school census. These groupings are based on the 2001 Census of England and Wales, with 2 exceptions:

• Traveller of Irish Heritage and Gypsy and Roma pupils are in separate categories
• Chinese pupils are included in a separate category from Asian

These changes were made after consultations with local authorities and lobby groups.

Local authority data is only provided for 6 ethnic groups:

• Asian
• Black
• Chinese
• Mixed
• White
• Other

2. By ethnicity

• Location: England
• Time period: 2018 to 2019 school year
• Source: Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments: England 2019

Percentage of year 1 and year 2 pupils meeting the expected standard in phonics, by ethnicity

Ethnicity	Year 1	Year 2
All	82	91
Asian	85	93
Bangladeshi	84	92
Indian	90	95
Pakistani	82	92
Asian other	85	93
Black	83	91
Black African	85	92
Black Caribbean	80	90
Black other	82	91
Chinese	91	96
Mixed	84	92
Mixed White/Asian	87	94
Mixed White/Black African	84	93
Mixed White/Black Caribbean	79	90
Mixed other	84	93
White	82	91
White British	82	92
White Irish	82	92
Gypsy/Roma	43	62
Irish Traveller	42	59
White other	81	90
Other	79	88
Unknown	63	73

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Phonics results for 5 to 7 year olds By ethnicity Summary

The data shows that, in the 2018 to 2019 school year:

• 82% of pupils met the expected standard in phonics in year 1 (at 5 to 6 years old)
• 91% of pupils had met the standard by the end of year 2 (at 6 to 7 years old)
• 91% of pupils from the Chinese ethnic group met the expected standard in year 1, and 96% by the end of year 2, the highest percentages out of all ethnic groups
• 42% of White Irish Traveller pupils met the expected standard in year 1, and 59% by the end of year 2, the lowest percentages out of all ethnic groups
• the White Gypsy and Roma group had the biggest increase in pupils meeting the expected standard between year 1 (43%) and year 2 (62%)
• 82% of White British pupils met the expected standard in year 1, and 92% did so by the end of year 2

3. By ethnicity and gender

• Location: England
• Time period: 2018 to 2019 school year
• Source: Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments: England 2019

Percentage of year 1 and year 2 pupils meeting the expected standard in phonics, by ethnicity and gender

	Boys		Girls
Ethnicity	Boys Year 1	Boys Year 2	Girls Year 1	Girls Year 2
All	78	89	85	94
Asian	82	91	88	95
Bangladeshi	80	89	88	94
Indian	88	94	93	97
Pakistani	78	90	86	94
Asian other	82	91	88	95
Black	80	89	87	94
Black African	81	90	88	94
Black Caribbean	75	87	84	94
Black other	78	88	86	94
Chinese	89	94	94	97
Mixed	80	91	87	95
Mixed White/Asian	83	93	90	96
Mixed White/Black African	81	91	87	94
Mixed White/Black Caribbean	74	87	84	93
Mixed other	81	91	88	95
White	78	89	85	94
White British	78	90	85	94
White Irish	79	89	86	94
Gypsy/Roma	39	58	46	66
Irish Traveller	38	53	46	64
White other	78	88	85	92
Other	75	87	83	91
Unknown	60	71	65	76

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Phonics results for 5 to 7 year olds By ethnicity and gender Summary

The data shows that, in the 2018 to 2019 school year:

• 85% of girls and 78% of boys met the expected standard in phonics in year 1
• 94% of girls and 89% of boys met the standard by the end of year 2
• in every ethnic group, girls were more likely than boys to meet the expected standard in years 1 and 2
• girls from the Chinese ethnic group were the most likely to meet the expected standard in year 1 (94%)
• girls from the Chinese and Indian ethnic groups were most likely to meet the expected standard by the end of year 2 (97%)
• boys from the White Irish Traveller ethnic group were the least likely to meet the expected standard in year 1 (38%) and year 2 (53%)
• in year 1, the biggest gap between girls and boys was in the Mixed White and Black Caribbean ethnic group, where 84% of girls and 74% of boys met the standard
• in year 2, the biggest gap between girls and boys was in the White Irish Traveller ethnic group, where 64% of girls and 53% of boys met the standard
• in year 1, the smallest gap between girls and boys whose ethnicity was known was in the Chinese and Indian ethnic groups
• in year 2, the smallest gap between girls and boys was in the Chinese, Indian, Mixed White and Asian and Mixed White and Black African ethnic groups
• among White British pupils, 85% of girls and 78% of boys met the expected standard in year 1, while 94% of girls and 90% of boys met the expected standard in year 2

4. By ethnicity and eligibility for free school meals (FSM)

• Location: England
• Time period: 2018 to 2019 school year
• Source: Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments: England 2019

Percentage of year 1 pupils meeting the expected standard in phonics by ethnicity and eligibility for free school meals

Ethnicity	FSM	Non-FSM
All	70	84
Asian	79	86
Bangladeshi	80	85
Indian	82	91
Pakistani	78	82
Asian other	77	86
Black	80	85
Black African	82	86
Black Caribbean	76	81
Black other	77	83
Chinese	86	92
Mixed	75	86
Mixed White/Asian	77	88
Mixed White/Black African	77	86
Mixed White/Black Caribbean	72	83
Mixed other	77	86
White	67	84
White British	67	85
White Irish	60	87
Gypsy/Roma	41	44
Irish Traveller	36	49
White other	73	82
Other	74	80
Unknown	66	62

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Phonics results for 5 to 7 year olds By ethnicity and eligibility for free school meals (FSM) Summary

Eligibility for free school meals (FSM) in England is used as an indicator of deprivation.

The data for FSM-eligible pupils in year 1 shows that:

• 70% met the expected standard in phonics, compared with 84% of non-eligible pupils
• 86% from the Chinese ethnic group met the standard, the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
• 36% from the White Irish Traveller group met the standard, the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups
• in every ethnic group, they were less likely to meet the standard than non-eligible pupils
• White Irish pupils had the biggest gap between FSM-eligible (60%) and non-eligible pupils (87%)
• 67% of pupils from the White British ethnic group met the standard, compared with 85% of non-eligible White British pupils

5. By ethnicity and area

• Location: England
• Time period: 2018 to 2019 school year
• Source: Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments: England 2019

Percentage of year 1 pupils meeting the expected standard in phonics by ethnicity and area

Local authority	All	Asian	Black	Chinese	Mixed	White	Other
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Barking and Dagenham	81	86	84	100	85	76	79
Barnet	86	89	84	88	87	87	83
Barnsley	80	95	86	100	85	80	70
Bath and North East Somerset	82	76	80	100	81	82	84
Bedford	80	85	83	100	76	80	76
Bexley	84	92	87	92	86	82	81
Birmingham	81	83	81	89	83	80	81
Blackburn with Darwen	82	84	76	86	84	81	89
Blackpool	82	90	89	90	85	82	89
Bolton	81	84	75	89	81	82	78
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	82	92	89	96	83	82	77
Bracknell Forest	85	89	87	100	92	84	87
Bradford	81	84	81	100	79	80	80
Brent	83	87	82	91	86	84	76
Brighton and Hove	80	77	74	79	82	81	71
Bristol, City of	82	78	79	91	82	83	66
Bromley	86	96	85	96	87	85	82
Buckinghamshire	82	85	80	78	81	82	88
Bury	82	78	75	100	81	83	79
Calderdale	83	81	80	90	87	83	75
Cambridgeshire	80	85	79	93	82	80	87
Camden	81	80	81	88	83	83	79
Central Bedfordshire	82	87	87	100	86	82	63
Cheshire East	84	90	88	90	91	84	83
Cheshire West and Chester	80	85	60	92	81	80	63
City of London
Cornwall	81	94	67	88	86	81	85
County Durham	82	86	86	95	86	82	84
Coventry	80	83	85	91	82	79	81
Croydon	84	87	81	90	84	84	82
Cumbria	80	94	75	100	82	80	65
Darlington	83	77	89	100	73	84	75
Derby	83	86	86	95	87	81	84
Derbyshire	80	85	80	79	83	80	67
Devon	82	83	91	89	91	82	73
Doncaster	80	83	81	93	82	80	78
Dorset	81	76	89	86	81	81	40
Dudley	79	82	76	79	78	80	70
Ealing	84	86	84	100	88	85	82
East Riding of Yorkshire	83	93	80	100	81	83	78
East Sussex	82	90	88	78	81	82	67
Enfield	81	90	82	96	86	79	84
Essex	82	89	84	89	84	82	80
Gateshead	83	95	92	100	79	83	73
Gloucestershire	81	82	86	94	80	81	89
Greenwich	83	89	87	92	83	79	82
Hackney	86	88	85	100	90	85	89
Halton	80	100	100	100	80	80	83
Hammersmith and Fulham	86	82	87	100	86	88	78
Hampshire	83	87	87	96	84	83	74
Haringey	84	86	85	91	85	86	79
Harrow	87	92	83	91	84	84	76
Hartlepool	84	79	82	100	89	84	60
Havering	83	90	84	100	85	82	84
Herefordshire, County of	82	92	50	100	75	82	70
Hertfordshire	84	89	82	94	88	83	79
Hillingdon	84	90	88	100	88	79	91
Hounslow	85	90	84	93	86	82	82
Isle of Wight	78	87	100	100	78	78	100
Isles of Scilly
Islington	84	81	83	100	87	85	83
Kensington and Chelsea	85	86	88	100	88	85	80
Kent	82	87	89	100	85	81	79
Kingston upon Hull, City of	79	89	91	100	87	79	75
Kingston upon Thames	84	83	80	100	85	84	84
Kirklees	79	81	82	79	74	80	75
Knowsley	80	90	93	100	85	80	88
Lambeth	82	88	81	100	79	86	78
Lancashire	81	82	75	81	80	82	69
Leeds	79	79	79	91	82	80	77
Leicester	81	84	85	84	83	77	75
Leicestershire	83	89	92	93	86	83	83
Lewisham	81	81	79	85	84	84	80
Lincolnshire	81	92	88	90	84	81	64
Liverpool	78	83	85	81	83	78	72
Luton	79	81	84	100	77	77	80
Manchester	79	80	84	83	81	78	77
Medway	82	90	89	94	80	82	74
Merton	83	88	78	91	81	84	85
Middlesbrough	78	83	76	100	77	79	73
Milton Keynes	84	89	84	88	88	83	81
Newcastle upon Tyne	80	83	78	95	83	81	82
Newham	87	89	89	100	88	85	85
Norfolk	79	83	88	79	80	79	75
North East Lincolnshire	82	90	100	0	81	82	90
North Lincolnshire	82	86	64	100	78	82	53
North Somerset	84	93	75	33	82	84	57
North Tyneside	83	82	88	100	80	84	64
North Yorkshire	82	85	77	91	86	82	81
Northamptonshire	82	84	84	93	83	82	91
Northumberland	84	90	100	92	85	84	86
Nottingham	79	82	86	92	77	79	76
Nottinghamshire	80	85	87	93	78	80	81
Oldham	79	76	82	88	79	82	64
Oxfordshire	82	79	80	83	83	82	78
Peterborough	77	84	86	100	80	76	75
Plymouth	83	93	79	100	86	83	77
Portsmouth	78	81	75	86	85	78	82
Reading	83	89	84	92	80	82	76
Redbridge	84	88	82	93	82	81	77
Redcar and Cleveland	81	71	100	N/A*	92	81	33
Richmond upon Thames	87	87	76	87	89	88	80
Rochdale	78	76	76	80	83	79	74
Rotherham	80	82	76	88	81	80	71
Rutland	85	83	100	100	91	86	100
Salford	80	84	80	87	84	80	74
Sandwell	81	85	84	80	84	79	70
Sefton	83	88	93	100	80	83	67
Sheffield	77	74	80	95	76	78	67
Shropshire	81	68	83	100	87	81	64
Slough	86	90	87	100	86	80	82
Solihull	85	91	91	88	84	85	70
Somerset	81	86	88	100	80	81	67
South Gloucestershire	85	89	92	94	88	85	78
South Tyneside	82	78	67	100	78	83	78
Southampton	82	87	83	100	84	81	79
Southend-on-Sea	83	90	86	100	83	82	92
Southwark	84	88	84	96	82	87	77
St. Helens	82	85	83	100	97	81	82
Staffordshire	84	84	79	87	84	84	76
Stockport	82	82	79	94	80	82	81
Stockton-on-Tees	84	84	87	100	86	84	72
Stoke-on-Trent	78	80	84	100	78	78	59
Suffolk	81	83	86	91	85	81	79
Sunderland	81	80	87	89	81	81	50
Surrey	84	89	81	96	88	83	81
Sutton	85	92	89	95	83	83	87
Swindon	80	88	84	100	83	79	78
Tameside	78	79	81	82	79	79	79
Telford and Wrekin	84	80	86	100	87	84	67
Thurrock	83	91	89	90	87	80	71
Torbay	84	91	100	100	86	84	70
Tower Hamlets	84	84	87	100	88	83	79
Trafford	85	86	76	95	84	86	88
Wakefield	80	83	86	75	80	80	74
Walsall	82	87	84	90	86	81	71
Waltham Forest	86	87	86	89	87	86	83
Wandsworth	85	85	82	90	88	87	81
Warrington	85	94	90	94	89	85	64
Warwickshire	84	88	90	100	87	83	75
West Berkshire	82	88	87	100	83	82	92
West Sussex	81	86	85	94	83	81	75
Westminster	86	86	81	90	86	89	85
Wigan	80	84	78	100	77	80	83
Wiltshire	80	90	76	92	76	80	70
Windsor and Maidenhead	83	84	78	100	85	83	90
Wirral	82	85	100	100	89	82	65
Wokingham	84	88	93	96	89	83	84
Wolverhampton	81	85	85	86	82	79	87
Worcestershire	82	80	84	90	85	82	77
York	84	94	100	50	91	84	87

^* Not applicable Data withheld to protect confidentiality

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Phonics results for 5 to 7 year olds By ethnicity and area Summary

The data for year 1 pupils shows that:

• out of all local authorities, White pupils were most likely to meet the expected standard in Westminster (89%) and least likely to in Barking and Dagenham, and Peterborough (76%)
• figures for other ethnic groups are based on small numbers of pupils, so reliable generalisations can't be made

6. Methodology

Local authorities collect phonics data from 16,400 schools and submit it to the Department for Education.

This data is matched to school census records to identify pupils’ ethnicities and free school meal eligibility.

The data only covers state-funded schools in England. This includes local authority maintained schools, academies and special schools. It excludes pupils in independent schools, alternative provision and those who are home schooling.

Some data is broken down by pupils' eligibility for free school meals (FSM). To be eligible, their families must:

• have applied for FSM at the time of the school census in January
• be receiving a qualifying benefit like Jobseeker’s Allowance

We refer to pupils who are not eligible for FSM (or whose eligibility is unknown) as ‘non-FSM’.

Suppression rules and disclosure control

Figures for the Isles of Scilly and City of London are not included as these local authorities have 1 school each.

The Department for Education (DfE) does not publish school-level information for phonics.

You can also read DfE’s statistical policy statement on confidentiality (PDF, 194KB, 5 pages) (PDF opens in a new window or tab).

Rounding

Percentages given in charts, tables and downloads are rounded to the nearest whole number.

Related publications

Schools, pupils and their characteristics: June 2019.

Quality and methodology information

Further technical information

2019 key stage 1: assessment and reporting arrangements (ARA) – includes details of pupils who should and shouldn’t take the phonics check (page 24).

7. Data sources

Source

Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments: England 2019

Type of data

Administrative data

Type of statistic

National Statistics

Publisher

Department for Education

Publication frequency

Yearly

Purpose of data source

This data provides results for the 2019 key stage 1 national curriculum assessments. The results are used to monitor pupils’ attainment in reading, writing, maths and science.

8. Download the data

KS1 Phonics -- National - Spreadsheet (csv) 52 KB

This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, gender, age, FSM (free school meal eligibility), value, value_type, denominator, numerator

KS1 Phonics -- Local Authority - Spreadsheet (csv) 554 KB

This file contains: measure, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, time, geography, geography_type, geography_code, gender, age, value, value_type, denominator, numerator

Publication release date: 20 April 2020

full page history

1. 20 April 2020 Updated with the latest available data (for the 2018 to 2019 school year).

From: Department for Education

Previous editions:

1. 29 July 2019
2. 14 May 2019
3. 4 March 2018

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