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Summary The test checks six-year-olds' ability to read aloud a mixture of 40 real and made-up word.
Fewer than six out of 10 pupils, 58%, passed the controversial new national phonics reading test in England, official statistics show.The test checks six-year-olds ability to read aloud a mixture of 40 real and made-up words, sounding them out using the phonics system.Ministers said the check had identified pupils who needed further help in learning to read.But teaching unions say it risks doing long-term damage to childrens reading.This is because it tests childrens ability to decode words using a single method, phonics, rather than their ability to read itself.Some teachers have said bright pupils who use different methods of reading are trying to read the made-up words as real ones and being marked down for it.The official results show some 62% of girls passed the test compared with 54% of boys.But only 44% of disadvantaged pupils, those eligible for free school meals, met the required standard of phonic decoding. This was 17 percentage points lower than all other pupils.The phonics test is now taken by all pupils in Year 1 in English primary schools. The government introduced it to ensure schools were identifying pupils struggling with reading.
