Reading standards in England are the best in a generation, new international test results show, after the push towards phonics led to a dramatic improvement in children’s attainment.

A study of the reading ability of nine and 10 year-olds in 50 countries puts England in joint eighth place, the country’s highest ranking since the test was introduced in 2001.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said this was the first definitive set of evidence that one of the Government’s most controversial education reforms is working.

In 2010, the Tory-Lib Dem coalition government changed the national curriculum to require schools to use phonics, where children are taught to read by learning individual sounds and then blending different sounds together into words.

The method has been championed by the Government as key to raising literacy standards, but has faced staunch opposition.

A Phonics Screening Check for six year-olds was also introduced – a move which came under heavy criticism from teaching unions.