PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Literacy: Primary Education (23 January 2020)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of children in schools in North West Durham passed the phonics screening check (a) when it was introduced and (b) in the latest period for which figures are available.

Asked by:
Mr Richard Holden (Conservative)

The Department introduced the phonics screening check for Year 1 pupils in 2012. The latest available figures are for the academic year 2018-19. Figures for the proportion of children in state-funded schools in North West Durham who met the expected standard in phonics in Year 1 are set out in the table below. As shown, 60% of pupils in state-funded schools in the parliamentary constituency met the expected standard in 2012, compared to 83% in 2019.

Percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in Year 1 in the phonics screening check
All state funded schools, England (2012, 2019)
	2012		2019
	No. eligible pupils	% met standard	No. eligible pupils	% met standard
England	592,007	58%	649,152	82%
County Durham	5,402	60%	5,622	82%
North West Durham	959	60%	1009	83%

Equivalent figures for England and the local authority of County Durham are provided for context.

Answered by:
Nick Gibb (Conservative)
31 January 2020