Bumper £24 million to boost children’s literacy

More primary school pupils will benefit from high-quality phonics and expert literacy teaching as part of new funding announced today (Sunday 9 October).  

Over £24 million is set to be invested in building children's literacy skills as the government continues to support pupils’ recovery from the pandemic and work towards the target of 90% of primary children reaching the expected standard in literacy and numeracy.  

The announcement marks the conclusion of Dyslexia Awareness Week, with targeted literacy support playing a pivotal role in helping pupils with dyslexia develop all-important reading and writing skills.  

The investment is part of the government's commitment to make sure every young person leaves school with a strong grasp of literacy and maths, and sits alongside further targeted support such as the National Tutoring Programme. 

Education Secretary Kit Malthouse said:    

“If any child leaves schools without the ability to read and write properly, we have failed them.

“It is imperative that we support schools and pupils following the disruption of the pandemic. This funding will help us do that, but also help to instil a love of reading in young people that can last throughout their education and beyond.” 

Rachel Davis, Headteacher and Strategic Lead, Little Sutton English Hub said:   

“The funding available to schools to implement validated phonics programmes has been wide reaching, particularly with the introduction of the Accelerator Fund programme last year.   

“Our team of highly trained Literacy Specialists have worked with schools to deepen their understanding of the impact of phonics teaching.   

“Crucially, our work in the English Hubs Programmes has given staff the ability to identify specific barriers to individual pupils’ learning and implement precise, swift intervention. This has helped children who find reading more difficult to achieve success. It has also greatly supported schools in their Covid Recovery programme.”  

The funding will support the continuation and growth of the English Hubs Programme, enabling even more schools to embed high quality phonics teaching and benefit from the intensive support and access to literacy specialists.  

The programmes will help build children’s confidence and ability to read and write, including for those with dyslexia, and provide a solid foundation for children to build upon so they can develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both information and for fun.    

Building on the Accelerator Fund - which helps schools access specialist programmes of support for pupils and has so far seen £4 million distributed to over 450 schools - this funding will boost existing programmes in schools to support pupils’ learning to read.  

Phonics approaches, when embedded in a rich literacy environment, are amongst the most effective methods of teaching children to read, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, according to evidence from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF).  

This sits alongside our commitment to support schools with early identification of need and intervention for children who require extra support, as clearly outlined in our Schools White Paper, SEND Review and Alternative Provision Green Paper.  

Notes to editors   

• In February 2021, the Department announced a £22m Accelerator Fund (AF1), investment aimed at developing and scaling the pipeline of well-evidenced literacy and numeracy programmes available to schools. In September 2022, the Department announced a further £66m to continue the Accelerator Fund for another three academic years. 
• Proposals to improve the system of support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or who benefit from alternative provision were published for consultation in June. New national standards and a more inclusive mainstream school system, with more targeted support and intervention for children when they are younger, will raise standards nationwide for all pupils, including if they have dyslexia.    
• As part of our green paper consultation response, the department will publish a plan of action to outline our next steps, later this year.    
• The National Tutoring Programme will allow us to provide up to 100 million hours of tuition for 5-15 year olds by 2024 (up to 6 million tutoring courses for 5-16 year olds by 2024).  
• The Early Years recovery will deliver a universal training offer, together with targeted support to leaders and practitioners, to create a more sustainable, self-supporting system; strengthen specialist expertise and leadership in the sector by boosting skills to develop children’s early language and maths.  
• £10 million of additional investment in the Professional Development Programme, which will support thousands of pre-school children’s language, numeracy and social skills: 
• £17m on the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI), improving the language skills of reception age children who need it most during the pandemic. £10m for a second phase of the Early Years Professional Development Programme to support staff in pre-reception settings in 50 new local authorities to work with children who are at risk of falling behind due to COVID-19. 
• The government is investing nearly £5 billion to help children and young people to recover from the impact of the pandemic which includes £1.5 billion for a national tutoring revolution in schools and colleges and up to £153 million for Early Years recovery over three academic years from September 2021.  
• Funding for the new National Professional Qualification for Leading Literacy and for Early Years Leadership is also being extended for the next two years and will improve literacy outcomes for every child by training existing teachers and leaders to become literacy experts, driving up standards of literacy teaching in schools and ensure that children have access to knowledge-rich, world-class teaching.