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A third of disadvantaged white pupils in England leave their primary school unable to read well enough to access the secondary curriculum, leading to disengagement and school absence, according to new research.
The findings were published days after an independent inquiry into white working-class educational outcomes concluded the current education system was “not set up to serve white working-class children and families”.
The landmark inquiry, which was commissioned by a schools academy trust and backed by the Department for Education, was launched to investigate why white working-class educational performance persistently lags behind other large demographic groups.
This latest analysis by Fischer Family Trust (FFT) provides yet more evidence of the gap, showing that white disadvantaged pupils have lower reading fluency throughout primary than their wealthier peers and disadvantaged pupils from other ethnic backgrounds.
The research found that by the end of year 6, before transition to secondary school, 33% of white disadvantaged pupils are reading below 90 words correct per minute (WCPM), the accepted benchmark for secure reading fluency, compared with one in five (20%) non-disadvantaged pupils.
The concern is that without adequate reading fluency pupils find it difficult to keep up with the curriculum at secondary school and quickly become disengaged, often leading to school absence.
The findings were drawn from the results of more than a million FFT reading fluency assessments involving 231,000 pupils in 1,570 schools between September 2023 and June 2026.
For the assessment, pupils are required to read a short passage appropriate to their reading ability for a minute. According to FFT, pupils who are reading below 90 WCPM in year 6 typically have a reading fluency comparable to the average year 3 pupil.
Paul Charman, the managing director of FFT, said the most striking finding was not that white disadvantaged pupils had lower reading fluency, but that the gap between them and their non-disadvantaged peers did not decrease at all during the time they spent at primary school.
“A third of white disadvantaged pupils are leaving primary school without secure reading fluency,” he said. “This should concern anyone interested in improving educational outcomes and narrowing disadvantage gaps.
“Reading fluency is fundamental to success in school. When pupils can read accurately and confidently, they are better able to access the full curriculum and engage successfully with learning across all subjects.
“When they can’t, it is no wonder that they become disengaged and increasingly absent from education.”
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James Bowen, assistant general secretary at the NAHT school leaders’ union, said the gap in reading fluency emerged long before children even got to school. “We see that reflected in the difference in children’s vocabulary by the age of five.
“This is not a new problem, but it has proven a stubbornly difficult one to solve. A renewed focus on supporting reading for disadvantaged children would be welcome, but that must start in the early years and include a strong focus on supporting families too.”
Hamid Patel, the CEO of Star Academies and co-chair of the inquiry into white working-class educational outcomes, said: “These findings reinforce the inquiry’s call for a renewed national focus on reading fluency, from primary through into the early years of secondary. If we get this right, we give pupils a genuine chance to succeed; if we do not, the consequences are long-lasting.”
Commenting on the inquiry report, the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said: “I know, more than most, that change will not come overnight, but for the first time in a long time, white working-class children have a government that will fight for them.”
