Nursery World - Teachers call for end to 'pointless' reading check for six-year-olds

More than eight in ten Year 1 teachers in primary schools believe that the phonics check for six-year-olds should be scrapped, according to a survey by teaching unions.

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers, the National Union of Teachers and the National Association of Head Teachers questioned 1,700 Year one teachers as part of a wider survey of teachers and heads in primary schools in England.

Eighty-six per cent of teachers said the phonics checks should not continue and 91 per cent said that the reading check did not tell them anything new about children’s reading ability.

Around two-thirds of Year 1 teachers (63 per cent) said they feared that children’s confidence would be dented if they had to retake the phonics check.

They also said that it took up teaching time, took teachers out of the classroom and cost schools money to implement.

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