Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of different methods of teaching English and their effectiveness.

The department does not make assessments of the methods employed by schools to teach English. Schools are free to decide on the most appropriate teaching methods and practices, depending on their pupils’ needs. We strongly encourage them to use teaching methods based on sound evidence. For example, the Education Endowment Foundation publishes robust evidence on effective pedagogic practice, for example its Teaching and Learning Toolkit, which is used by around 6 out of 10 teachers in senior leadership positions when deciding which approaches to adopt to improve teaching.

When it comes to the teaching of reading, the national curriculum requires the systematic teaching of phonics. There is a significant body of evidence that demonstrates that systematic phonics is a highly effective method for teaching early reading. The department has invested £26 million in a national network of English hubs to support local schools in developing their teaching practice, with a focus on systematic phonics. We are also funding 6 Phonics Partnerships and a series of Phonics Roadshows, to spread good practice and improve phonics teaching.