Reading results for 6 to 7 year olds

Published 20 April 2020

Last updated 4 March 2021 - see all updates

This page has been archived.
It has been replaced by School results for 5 to 7 year olds.

Contents

1. Main facts and figures

• 75% of pupils in year 2 met the expected standard in reading in the 2018 to 2019 school year
• 25% of pupils met the higher standard
• pupils from the Chinese ethnic group were most likely out of all ethnic groups to meet both the expected and higher standards
• pupils from the White Gypsy and Roma ethnic group were least likely out of all ethnic groups to meet both the expected and higher standards
• in every ethnic group, girls were more likely than boys to meet both the expected and higher standards
• in every ethnic group, pupils eligible for free school meals were less likely to meet the expected standard than other pupils

2. Things you need to know

What the data measures

The data measures the percentage of pupils at state-funded schools in England who met the expected and higher standards in reading in year 2 (when they are 6 to 7 years old).

The data is based on teacher assessments and not reading tests that pupils take in year 2.

Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.

Not included in the data

The data does not include:

• pupils in independent schools, alternative provision or those who are home schooling
• local authority figures for the Isles of Scilly and City of London as they only have one school each – this means there are not enough pupils to be able to make reliable generalisations

The ethnic groups used in the data

The data uses the ethnic groups from the 2001 Census, with 2 exceptions:

• White Irish Traveller and White Gypsy and Roma children have been separated into 2 categories
• pupils in the Chinese ethnic group are in a separate category from Asian pupils

Local authority data is shown for 6 aggregated ethnic groups:

• Asian
• Black
• Chinese
• Mixed
• White
• Other

This means estimates are shown for these groups as a whole. This is to make sure group sizes are big enough to make reliable generalisations.

Ethnicity was known for 99% of pupils.

Methodology

Read the detailed methodology document (PDF opens in a new window or tab) for the data on this page.

3. By ethnicity

• Location: England
• Time period: 2018 to 2019 school year
• Source: Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments: England 2019

Percentage of pupils meeting the expected and higher standards in reading, by ethnicity

Ethnicity	Expected standard	Higher standard
All	75	25
Asian	77	25
Bangladeshi	75	24
Indian	83	32
Pakistani	72	19
Asian other	77	26
Black	76	22
Black African	78	23
Black Caribbean	71	18
Black other	73	21
Chinese	84	37
Mixed	77	27
Mixed White/Asian	82	33
Mixed White/Black African	77	27
Mixed White/Black Caribbean	72	20
Mixed other	78	28
White	75	25
White British	76	26
White Irish	80	33
Gypsy/Roma	30	4
Irish Traveller	35	7
White other	71	21
Other	68	18
Unknown	56	18

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Reading results for 6 to 7 year olds By ethnicity Summary

This data shows that:

• 75% of pupils met the expected standard in reading in year 2 (when they were 6 or 7 years old)
• 25% met the higher standard
• 84% of pupils from the Chinese ethnic group met the expected standard, the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
• 37% of pupils from the Chinese ethnic group met the higher standard, the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
• 30% of White Gypsy and Roma pupils met the expected standard, the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups
• 4% of White Gypsy and Roma pupils met the higher standard, the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups
• 76% of White British pupils met the expected standard, and 26% met the higher standard

4. By ethnicity and gender

• Location: England
• Time period: 2018 to 2019 school year
• Source: Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments: England 2019

Percentage of pupils meeting the expected and higher standards in reading, by ethnicity and gender

	Boys		Girls
Ethnicity	Boys Expected standard	Boys Higher standard	Girls Expected standard	Girls Higher standard
All	71	22	79	29
Asian	72	21	81	28
Bangladeshi	71	20	80	27
Indian	79	28	87	37
Pakistani	67	16	78	22
Asian other	73	22	81	30
Black	70	18	82	26
Black African	73	19	83	28
Black Caribbean	65	14	78	21
Black other	67	17	80	25
Chinese	81	33	88	41
Mixed	73	24	82	31
Mixed White/Asian	79	30	85	37
Mixed White/Black African	73	23	81	30
Mixed White/Black Caribbean	66	17	77	24
Mixed other	74	26	82	31
White	71	22	79	29
White British	72	23	80	30
White Irish	76	29	84	38
Gypsy/Roma	28	3	32	5
Irish Traveller	27	5	42	9
White other	67	18	75	24
Other	64	16	72	20
Unknown	53	16	60	20

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Reading results for 6 to 7 year olds By ethnicity and gender Summary

This data shows that:

• 79% of girls and 71% of boys met the expected standard in reading
• 29% of girls and 22% of boys met the higher standard
• in every ethnic group, girls were more likely than boys to meet both the expected and higher standards
• girls from the Chinese ethnic group were the most likely to meet the expected standard (88%) and the higher standard (41%)
• boys from the White Irish Traveller ethnic group were the least likely to meet the expected standard (27%)
• boys from the White Gypsy and Roma ethnic group were least likely to meet the higher standard (3%)
• 42% of girls and 27% of boys in the White Irish Traveller ethnic group met the expected standard - the biggest gap between girls and boys
• the biggest gap between girls and boys in the higher standard was in the Black African, Indian and White Irish ethnic groups
• 32% of girls and 28% of boys in the White Gypsy and Roma ethnic group met the expected standard, and 5% of girls and 3% of boys met the higher standard - the smallest gaps between girls and boys
• 80% of girls and 72% of boys in the White British ethnic group met the expected standard, and 30% of girls and 23% of boys met the higher standard

5. By ethnicity and eligibility for free school meals

• Location: England
• Time period: 2018 to 2019 school year
• Source: Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments: England 2019

Percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, by ethnicity and eligibility for free school meals

Ethnicity	FSM	Non-FSM
	%	%
All	60	78
Asian	69	78
Bangladeshi	72	76
Indian	75	83
Pakistani	68	73
Asian other	67	79
Black	71	78
Black African	74	79
Black Caribbean	65	75
Black other	67	75
Chinese	82	85
Mixed	66	80
Mixed White/Asian	68	84
Mixed White/Black African	70	79
Mixed White/Black Caribbean	62	76
Mixed other	66	81
White	58	78
White British	58	79
White Irish	56	84
Gypsy/Roma	27	31
Irish Traveller	31	41
White other	59	71
Other	60	70
Unknown	55	56

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Reading results for 6 to 7 year olds By ethnicity and eligibility for free school meals Summary

Eligibility for free school meals (FSM) in England is used as an indicator of deprivation.

The data for FSM-eligible pupils shows that:

• 60% met the expected standard in reading, compared with 78% of non-FSM pupils
• 82% from the Chinese ethnic group met the standard, the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
• 27% from the White Gypsy ethnic group met the standard, the lowest percentage
• in every ethnic group, they were less likely to meet the expected standard than non-FSM pupils
• White Irish pupils had the largest attainment gap between FSM-eligible (56%) and non-FSM pupils (84%)
• among White British pupils, 58% of those eligible for FSM met the expected standard, compared with 79% of non-FSM pupils

6. By ethnicity and area

• Location: England
• Time period: 2018 to 2019 school year
• Source: Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments: England 2019

Percentage of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, by ethnicity and area

Local authority	All	Asian	Black	Chinese	Mixed	White	Other
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Barking and Dagenham	73	75	79	83	74	69	77
Barnet	79	83	78	86	82	80	71
Barnsley	72	82	71	N/A*	71	73	89
Bath and North East Somerset	78	76	80	78	84	78	35
Bedford	68	65	70	100	64	70	80
Bexley	79	85	86	87	82	76	78
Birmingham	72	74	73	83	73	71	69
Blackburn with Darwen	74	76	71	67	77	73	67
Blackpool	71	81	55	80	73	72	40
Bolton	72	75	65	67	73	73	61
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	76	78	74	92	79	77	68
Bracknell Forest	79	83	96	100	87	78	78
Bradford	73	75	73	89	74	72	60
Brent	74	77	75	93	77	73	66
Brighton and Hove	76	67	82	79	82	77	53
Bristol, City of	74	67	69	83	71	76	59
Bromley	80	89	76	91	80	80	77
Buckinghamshire	78	74	77	88	78	79	81
Bury	72	68	69	73	75	73	68
Calderdale	72	67	57	50	73	74	69
Cambridgeshire	74	79	77	82	76	74	71
Camden	77	74	75	83	77	78	73
Central Bedfordshire	78	86	74	90	82	78	79
Cheshire East	77	74	63	78	76	77	67
Cheshire West and Chester	73	79	62	86	78	73	48
City of London
Cornwall	72	67	43	55	79	72	52
County Durham	76	75	92	80	85	76	63
Coventry	72	77	72	88	72	70	64
Croydon	77	82	78	86	79	75	73
Cumbria	75	69	67	57	82	75	65
Darlington	75	68	91	100	82	75	55
Derby	72	77	76	79	71	71	67
Derbyshire	74	70	83	71	81	74	66
Devon	74	58	85	81	80	74	58
Doncaster	73	70	75	80	70	74	55
Dorset	76	83	75	100	80	76	59
Dudley	73	75	70	86	71	74	61
Ealing	75	76	73	78	81	77	69
East Riding of Yorkshire	75	86	100	100	81	75	63
East Sussex	77	80	69	68	79	77	56
Enfield	70	79	71	91	80	66	67
Essex	77	82	78	86	78	76	76
Gateshead	75	74	78	75	87	76	58
Gloucestershire	75	77	76	83	72	75	54
Greenwich	79	88	83	91	83	72	81
Hackney	79	82	78	88	81	80	76
Halton	72	80	100	N/A*	84	71	67
Hammersmith and Fulham	79	82	73	57	83	82	74
Hampshire	80	83	85	81	83	80	81
Haringey	76	85	78	89	80	76	63
Harrow	79	86	73	90	79	72	67
Hartlepool	74	66	67	100	80	74	44
Havering	77	82	79	92	78	77	69
Herefordshire, County of	79	75	85	100	90	79	50
Hertfordshire	77	80	74	84	80	77	68
Hillingdon	75	81	79	82	75	70	71
Hounslow	78	83	75	95	81	75	75
Isle of Wight	71	71	50	100	77	71	50
Isles of Scilly
Islington	76	76	75	92	77	78	70
Kensington and Chelsea	80	83	81	88	81	82	75
Kent	76	81	83	89	82	75	70
Kingston upon Hull, City of	72	76	66	67	72	73	64
Kingston upon Thames	80	77	78	100	83	80	74
Kirklees	73	74	81	88	71	73	66
Knowsley	72	92	76	43	75	71	71
Lambeth	78	76	75	96	81	82	72
Lancashire	74	71	79	79	74	74	52
Leeds	70	67	69	79	72	71	65
Leicester	70	75	70	80	72	65	70
Leicestershire	76	83	75	79	78	75	63
Lewisham	76	77	74	87	78	78	80
Lincolnshire	71	85	71	72	76	71	69
Liverpool	70	72	72	78	69	70	56
Luton	70	75	70	82	72	65	75
Manchester	71	71	74	78	74	71	64
Medway	76	85	87	83	77	74	76
Merton	79	81	74	96	76	80	82
Middlesbrough	70	65	70	100	73	71	54
Milton Keynes	77	81	80	88	81	75	52
Newcastle upon Tyne	75	75	74	75	77	76	70
Newham	79	81	80	92	83	72	79
Norfolk	73	82	72	84	79	73	69
North East Lincolnshire	74	75	50	50	68	74	56
North Lincolnshire	75	72	79	100	78	75	33
North Somerset	75	79	63	80	82	76	83
North Tyneside	78	71	83	100	83	78	56
North Yorkshire	74	70	52	73	80	74	55
Northamptonshire	74	79	74	83	74	74	68
Northumberland	78	82	60	100	72	79	70
Nottingham	70	71	80	80	74	67	64
Nottinghamshire	73	78	74	86	75	73	66
Oldham	71	70	71	88	73	73	53
Oxfordshire	77	78	79	85	76	77	66
Peterborough	67	66	69	92	71	67	53
Plymouth	71	71	73	54	74	71	61
Portsmouth	74	77	68	76	81	74	56
Reading	72	74	73	92	71	73	65
Redbridge	80	82	77	88	85	75	67
Redcar and Cleveland	75	88	100	100	72	76	22
Richmond upon Thames	83	83	79	96	83	84	81
Rochdale	70	67	71	81	67	71	61
Rotherham	72	71	78	94	81	72	58
Rutland	78	67	67	100	63	79	75
Salford	74	78	76	85	81	74	67
Sandwell	71	75	76	87	76	69	59
Sefton	75	67	62	60	77	75	38
Sheffield	72	70	78	75	70	72	65
Shropshire	74	58	100	63	71	74	63
Slough	75	80	76	100	74	70	74
Solihull	78	82	74	93	82	77	78
Somerset	76	77	78	100	83	76	54
South Gloucestershire	80	89	77	95	75	80	65
South Tyneside	76	74	79	100	75	76	90
Southampton	74	74	82	100	74	73	70
Southend-on-Sea	77	74	84	100	77	77	57
Southwark	79	77	81	85	76	81	68
St. Helens	74	65	73	62	77	74	20
Staffordshire	77	80	75	100	76	77	61
Stockport	76	74	68	76	76	76	66
Stockton-on-Tees	77	83	81	89	77	77	57
Stoke-on-Trent	72	74	70	76	71	73	55
Suffolk	73	79	75	86	71	73	73
Sunderland	75	70	75	84	76	75	60
Surrey	79	81	83	95	81	78	74
Sutton	80	87	78	95	85	78	70
Swindon	75	77	82	85	76	75	80
Tameside	73	70	55	69	73	74	66
Telford and Wrekin	75	67	71	89	77	76	33
Thurrock	75	83	84	77	80	71	84
Torbay	76	91	50	67	89	76	80
Tower Hamlets	75	76	75	86	78	75	61
Trafford	79	78	72	89	76	80	69
Wakefield	73	69	74	89	72	73	69
Walsall	73	78	69	73	77	73	58
Waltham Forest	79	80	78	87	80	80	79
Wandsworth	80	76	73	88	79	87	67
Warrington	78	81	80	71	80	77	75
Warwickshire	77	81	83	93	78	77	68
West Berkshire	75	77	68	71	81	75	77
West Sussex	75	77	61	81	75	75	74
Westminster	76	81	78	88	75	78	70
Wigan	76	78	76	91	78	76	58
Wiltshire	75	69	72	88	74	75	79
Windsor and Maidenhead	79	77	72	80	83	80	73
Wirral	72	78	60	95	77	71	70
Wokingham	80	85	74	90	83	78	87
Wolverhampton	74	81	74	72	79	72	63
Worcestershire	75	74	61	76	79	75	70
York	76	80	73	83	80	76	47

^* Not applicable Data withheld to protect confidentiality

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Reading results for 6 to 7 year olds By ethnicity and area Summary

The data shows that:

• out of all local authorities, White pupils were most likely to meet the expected standard in Wandsworth (87%) and least likely to in Leicester and Luton (65%)
• figures for other ethnic groups are based on small numbers of pupils, so reliable generalisations can't be made

7. Data sources

Source

Phonics screening check and key stage 1 assessments: England 2019

Type of data

Administrative data

Type of statistic

National Statistics

Publisher

Department for Education

Publication frequency

Yearly

Purpose of data source

This data provides results for the 2019 key stage 1 national curriculum assessments. The results are used to monitor pupils’ attainment in reading, writing, maths and science.

8. Download the data

KS1 Reading -- National - Spreadsheet (csv) 76 KB

This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, time, time_type, geography, geography_type, geography_code, gender, age, FSM, value, value_type, denominator, numerator

KS1 Reading -- Local Authority - Spreadsheet (csv) 548 KB

This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, time, time_type, geography, geography_type, geography_code, gender, age, value, value_type, denominator, numerator

Publication release date: 20 April 2020

Updated: 4 March 2021

full page history

1. 4 March 2021 Moved all contextual information to ‘Things you need to know’ and new subsections. Increased visibility by adding it to the table of contents. Removed any duplication and added links to content about understanding our data. Charts, tables and the data file have not been updated.
2. 20 April 2020 Updated with the latest figures for the school year 2018 to 2019.

From: Department for Education

Previous editions:

1. 29 July 2019
2. 14 May 2019
3. 4 March 2018

---

Share this page

Twitter Facebook LinkedIn