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£10m literacy fund

10th Jul 12

The government is putting aside £10m towards literacy programmes for children from poorer backgrounds who fall behind in reading and writing at the end of primary school.

Results from last year's Key Stage 2 tests show that around 100,000 pupils in England failed to reach the expected standard in English.

According to the government's figures, this means that one in six pupils (16 per cent) fail to master the basics of reading at the end of primary school; and around one in four pupils (25 per cent) fail to master the basics of writing at the end of primary school.

As part of a £10 million programme, projects will be set up across England to help disadvantaged pupils who fall behind. Some projects will be fast-tracked to start from this September, while other projects will start in 2013.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said, "I'm determined that the Government does everything it can, through the Pupil Premium, to bring children up to speed in literacy as they make the transition from primary to secondary school. This money will be a huge boost to schools in giving extra support the children who need it."

The programme will be run by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and aims to help disadvantaged children make the transition from primary to secondary school.

The EEF will fund projects that build on robust evidence or a strong and practical theory. It is expected that schools themselves, along with charities, local authorities and universities, will bid for the programme.

Projects could start at the end of Year 6, in the summer between Year 6 and Year 7, and in Year 7 itself. The Foundation will also consider some projects which include mathematics.

Each successful project will be evaluated by independent research teams drawn from the EEF panel of evaluators to help make the best projects available to all schools to use.

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