Children aged nine and 10 who took part in assessment of reading ability ranked joint eighth out of 50 participating countries

Nine- and 10-year-olds in England have improved their reading scores in a set of prestigious international exams, although their results still lag behind Russia, Singapore and Hong Kong, which top the table.

English children who took part in the 2016 tests, the results of which were released on Tuesday, were ranked a creditable joint eighth out of 50 participating countries. They scored the same as their peers in Norway and Taiwan, and climbed up from 10th position in the last round of tests five years earlier.

They registered their best average reading score of 559 and are gradually climbing back up the rankings after a dramatic fall from third position in 2001 to 15th position in 2006, but were still outperformed by Northern Ireland, which was ranked seventh this time, and Ireland, which came fourth.

The global assessment – which is separate from the Pisa international tests – was carried out as part of the Pirls (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) international comparative survey of reading attainment.

Children as young as two grouped by ability in English nurseries Read more

In comparison with England’s moderate improvement, Belgium and France were further down the rankings, with their children registering lower average results. Scores also slipped in Canada, Denmark and the US.



The government welcomed the improved performance in reading among English pupils as evidence of the effectiveness of their reforms, including an increased emphasis on phonics, but as well as the countries listed above, children in Finland and Poland also outperformed their English peers.

The study is led by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) and compares children’s reading ability, experiences of learning to read and enjoyment of reading.

Ministers regard the latest results as significant because pupils who sat the tests in 2016 are part of a cohort who will have been affected by reforms to the primary curriculum and assessment, including the national rollout of a phonics screening check in 2012.



The margins of improvement are relatively small, up seven points from 552 in 2011. Welcoming the results, the school standards minister Nick Gibb said: “Today’s results put the success of our increased emphasis on phonics and continued focus on raising education standards on a global scale.

“Our rise through the global rankings is even more commendable because it has been driven by an increase in the number of low-performing pupils reading well. This demonstrates our determination to ensure this is a country that works for everyone, regardless of background.”

However, Dirk Hastedt, the executive director of the IEA, warned against placing too much emphasis on comparative rankings.

“Ranking depends very much on the participating countries and their results and even on the precision of their measurement. Consequently, we do not recommend to focus too much on rankings but to focus on the scores and changes of scores as well as the other results published in the international report.”

Secret Teacher: funding cuts leave us unable to help SEN children at school Read more

Juliet Sizmur, a senior research manager at the Centre for International Education at the National Foundation for Educational Research, said: “International studies such as Pirls provide a valuable external perspective on how well the education system is serving our children and a rich source of insights to inform improvement.

“Reading is a fundamental skill, essential to future success and wellbeing, and so it’s encouraging to see such a positive set of results for England and Northern Ireland.”

She added: “The children who took part in Pirls started school in 2010 shortly after the coalition government was elected. These results will be taken as evidence that recent reforms have been a success.

“It is important, however, not to jump to simplistic conclusions – further analysis will be necessary. This should investigate the results in more detail to explore the extent to which the observed improvements are, in fact, a direct consequence of national reforms and what other factors are involved.”

The Pirls tests, irst conducted in 2001, included an assessment of online reading ability for the first time to measure how well students read and interpret digital information. England did not participate, but out of the 14 countries that took part Singapore came out on top, followed by Norway and Ireland.



More than 319,000 students worldwide were tested in 2016 as part of the assessments. Girls scored higher than boys in 48 of the 50 countries – in the two other countries there was no significant difference between the genders.

Students who attended preschool and whose parents regularly read with them at an early age had higher reading achievement. The study recorded a decrease in parents’ positive attitudes to reading in 31 countries, while 17% of parents reported they did not like to read themselves.



The study also found that one in four students arrived at school hungry every day, and had an average reading achievement score 32 points lower than students who arrived at school never feeling hungry.