Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her announcement of 2 November 2015 Introducing greater emphasis on literacy and numeracy at key stage 2, what representations she has since received on that policy; and approximately how many such representations were (a) against and (b) in favour of that statement.

We have not received specific representations on literacy and numeracy following the Secretary of State’s announcement in November. The government remains committed to raising standards of literacy and numeracy and works closely with professionals to raise standards for all pupils so that they are equipped to succeed in education and in life. In 2010, one in every three children starting secondary school was unable to read, write, or add up properly. Following government reforms, teachers have driven up standards with the figure now at one in five.

It is vital that we get the foundation right so that every child has a fair chance to succeed through all key stages. That is why we have placed phonics at the heart of the early teaching of reading and introduced a phonics check at the end of year 1 to enable schools to assess whether the essential building blocks of reading are in place. The percentage of pupils meeting the required standards of phonics in year 1 has increased from 58 percent in 2012 to 77 percent in 2015, putting 120,000 more 6 year olds each year on track to become confident readers. We fund a programme of 200 book clubs in primary schools where reading attainment at key stage 2 is currently low, and support schools to enrol year 3 pupils with a public library.

Beyond this, we have placed a greater emphasis within the primary curriculum and assessment on a secure grasp of the essentials such as grammar, punctuation and spelling, introducing a grammar, punctuation and spelling test in year 6.

For mathematics, we have placed particular emphasis in the primary curriculum on fluency in mental and written calculation. Just as knowledge of phonics is an essential foundation for success in reading, sound knowledge of arithmetic is essential for future success in mathematics. We removed the use of calculators for the end of key stage 2 mathematics tests from 2014 and in January 2016 we announced that all children will have their multiplication skills checked at the age of 11.

We want to ensure that all children have the right foundation at primary school and that any child who falls behind can catch up quickly. We provide funding to secondary schools to help year 7 pupils catch up and, as the Secretary of State said in her November speech, we have announced a resit test for year 7 pupils who do not meet expected standards in reading or mathematics at the end primary school.