Children in England are the best readers in the Western world, new global comparison finds

16 May 2023, 16:24

England’s children placed fourth in a global education league table for reading
England’s children placed fourth in a global education league table for reading. Picture: Getty

By Asher McShane

Children in England are better at reading than anywhere in Europe or the US, a new global comparison shows.

England’s children placed fourth in a global education league table, behind Singapore, Hong Kong and Russia, jumping from eighth position to enter the top five.

The latest Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, known as PIRLS, puts Singapore with highest result, with an average score of 587, taking top place out of the 43 countries that tested the reading levels of nine and 10-year-olds at the end of the school year.

Second was Hong Kong with an average score of 573, followed by Russia (567) and England (558).

Read more: Teachers and nurses among millions facing tax hike with one in five to pay 40 per cent rate

Read more: UK's most expensive food items revealed as prices of key staples double - including at Tesco, Asda and Lidl

The rankings show that Finland had an average score of 549, the same as Poland, while Taiwan had an average score of 544, the same as Sweden.

Overall, the 2021 study assessed nearly 400,000 students in 57 countries during the pandemic - and 43 of the countries tested children of the same age (which is pupils in Year 5 in England) at the end of the school year.

Schools minister Nick Gibb said the Government's reforms - such as a focus on phonics, which teaches children to read using sounds - are behind England's successful performance despite disruption from the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the 2016 rankings, England came joint 8th place out of 50 countries with an average score of 559 - and Ireland and Northern Ireland were above England.

The pandemic caused disruption to the 2021 study and 14 countries - including Northern Ireland and Ireland - delayed testing until the start of the next school year which meant pupils were older when they were assessed.

The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), which runs the study, did not include this group of 14 countries in the main rankings table due to the different ages of the children being tested.

Overall, girls were ahead of boys in their reading achievement in nearly all the countries that took part in the 2021 study - and in England, girls had an average score of 562 and boys had an average score of 553.

The gender gap in reading performance in England has narrowed as girls' average scores have fallen slightly, the data suggests.

In 2016, female pupils in England had an average score of 566, which is higher than the latest study, and their male peers had an average score of 551.

When asked by the media whether he was concerned that girls' reading scores have dropped, Mr Gibb said the decline was "very minimal".

He said: "In terms of girls, we don't want there to be any decline of any group within these reading surveys.

"But what's significant is if you take the results overall we are not seeing a significant drop in our actual score despite all the challenges of the Covid-19 period - and when other countries amongst these 43 countries did see declines in their score."

The Government said England's success follows the introduction of the phonics screening check in 2012 - a measure of progress among Year 1 pupil - and the English Hubs programme in 2018, which is designed to develop expertise in teaching reading in schools.

Mr Gibb said: "The approach that the Government has taken, in the face of quite a lot of opposition from vested interests, has been successful in seeing children's reading improving in this country."

He added that the commitment of 250,000 primary school teachers to reading who have "embraced" the phonics approach has also contributed.

The schools minister said: "I do worry about making sure that the gains that children are making in maths and reading in primary school are sustained through secondary school as well.

"It's really important in terms of social mobility that children continue to read regularly and for pleasure and that's something that we're still working on as a government," he added.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: "Driving up literacy rates is central to our plan to grow the economy, one of my five key priorities, so it's great to see England move up to fourth in the international rankings for reading.

"These results also show a welcome narrowing in the attainment gap between boys and girls and the highest and lowest performing pupils. This shows that our approach is working."

He added: "While there is always more progress to be made, pupils and teachers across the country should be incredibly proud of this achievement today."

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: "This is a badly needed piece of good news for an education system that feels beleaguered.

"These excellent results in reading standards of nine-10-year-olds are testament to the hard work, skill and dedication of primary school teachers and leaders.

"The Government is quick to claim that this is the outcome of its policies, but in truth, these results have been achieved despite the Government's record of neglect which has led to a critical shortage of funding and teachers.

"The Prime Minister is right to praise our brilliant teachers, but he now needs to match this rhetoric with a decent, fully funded pay award which improves recruitment and retention and protects education standards."

Dirk Hastedt, executive director of the IEA, told the PA news agency: "It's very positive that England was able to maintain the same high achievement despite the Covid-19 pandemic that we have had, with all the school closures and other negative impacts on education."

He said: "One might also assume that without Covid, the education would have been even improved further than that. England was on a positive trend since 2006 already."

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

The former Deputy Foreign Secretary said: “Many countries in Europe are simply not spending anywhere near, in percentage terms, what America is spending.

UK needs to ‘spend less on welfare and more on defence’ to support Ukraine, former Deputy Foreign Secretary tells LBC

Breaking
Craig and Lindsay Foreman

British couple detained in Iran pictured for the first time as family break silence on 'distressing situation'

The Jet2 plane was forced to divert.

Jet2 plane bound for UK makes emergency landing after passenger dies on board

he Philadelphia Eagles celebrate in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art during the Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl Championship Parade on February 14, 2025

Two women shot and injured during Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl victory parade, police say

Social media footage showed a man being kicked on the ground by his knife-wielding attacker.

Two charged by police after shock footage shows man kicked and spat at by knifeman after ‘burning Koran’ in London

Jannik Sinner

World tennis number one Jannik Sinner handed three-month ban for doping

Keith Edun, 47, used the messaging app “Kik” to spread vile images of children

Predator who encouraged man to rape a baby after sharing vile images of children online is jailed for 21 years

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during the 61st Munich Security Conference on February 15, 2025 in Munich, Germany.

Zelenskyy calls for creation of ‘European army’ as he warns Russia 'will pull Europe apart' if not defeated

The woman who said she was raped by rappers and business moguls Jay-Z and Sean "Diddy" Combs in 2000, when she was 13, has dropped her civil lawsuit against both men.

Woman who accused Jay-Z and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs of raping her when she was 13 drops lawsuit

Liam Payne died last Wednesday.

One Direction star Liam Payne was 'sectioned' after near-fatal overdose months before death, close friend claims

Hamas hands over 3 Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip to Red Cross

Israeli hostages paraded on stage before being freed as four Palestinian prisoners released in 'critical condition'

uk british national lottery euromillions ticket with picks

Winning numbers revealed as single UK EuroMillions ticket holder scoops massive £65million Valentine’s Day jackpot

The Three Horseshoes pub in Knockholt

Manhunt launched after woman seriously injured at village pub in Valentine's Day 'shooting'

Rob and Lindsey Burrow a few weeks before he died

Rob Burrow's wife reveals heartbreaking moment she knew rugby league star 'couldn't go on' with MND struggle

Axel Rudakubana will be 'target number one' in prison

Southport killer Axel Rudakubana's sentence won't be referred to Court of Appeal despite claims it's 'unduly lenient'

The damaged shield

'Risk of radioactive leak' after Russian 'high explosive' drone hits Chernobyl, causing 'significant damage'