Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with (a) the Read On. Get On. campaign and (b) members and supporters of that campaign on improving the reading ability of primary school children.

The Government is committed to eliminating illiteracy and wants all children to read easily, fluently and with good understanding. We have made improving the teaching of reading a priority, and reforms to the education system have been designed to help every child become a confident and enthusiastic reader. We recognise, however, that there is still further to go if we want every child to be reading well by age 11. We are therefore working to ensure that our policies are properly embedded so that they can have the maximum possible impact on the outcomes of our children.

We have welcomed the ‘Read On. Get On.’ campaign and its goal of helping all children to be able to read confidently and are pleased to see a wide range of organisations engaging with this vital mission. The Department and ministers have had a number of conversations with members of the ‘Read On. Get On’ coalition during the campaign, and actively support schools to play their part in this work.