Reading difficulties ‘more likely among deprived pupils’

The report published today by York University also highlights problems with the current system for identifying young people who face problems reading.

A study of more than 800 secondary school pupils found that a third of those with the highest level of social deprivation exhibited a reading difficulty, compared with only five per cent of pupils with the lowest level of social deprivation.

It also revealed that nearly 50 per cent of secondary school pupils with reading difficulties were not on the Special Educational Needs (SEN) register.

Dr Sue Stothard, from the university’s Centre for Reading and Language, will unveil the findings at the Westminster Education Forum Keynote Seminar today.

The research, funded by learning material supplier GL Assessment, was based on a study of 857 11-to-16-year-old pupils at state-maintained secondary schools in England.

The study found that some students in every secondary school year group were identified with a reading age of six or seven years and a substantial proportion of pupils who experienced reading difficulties were not identified on the school’s SEN register.

Just over half of 12 to 16-year-olds with significant reading problems were known to their schools, as indicated by the SEN register.

Dr Stothard said: “For me, the most striking finding is the under-reporting of children with significant reading difficulties.

“If half of children with reading difficulties are not on the SEN Register by year seven, this suggests to me that it’s unlikely that their reading problems will be attended to during their secondary schooling.” She has called for changes to be made to the system for identifying reading difficulties as part of the National Curriculum review.