The Department for Education has confirmed a statutory reading assessment for all pupils in Year 8 in England, designed to check reading fluency and comprehension at age 13. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson announced the measure as part of a broader programme to raise attainment in secondary years. The move creates a formal checkpoint in Key Stage 3 to identify pupils needing additional support and to stretch confident readers. The announcement was trailed in Phillipson’s address to the Confederation of School Trusts on 16 October 2025.
According to the published government summary, school‑level results will not be released publicly. Individual pupil outcomes will be shared with parents, and data will be available to Ofsted and the Department for Education. Ministers describe the assessment as a snapshot that pupils are not expected to revise for, aligning the approach with the non‑publication model used for the Year 1 phonics screening check. The press notice was first issued on 15 October 2025 and updated on 21 October to add the speech transcript.
Setting the proposal in context, Phillipson said the Year 8 check is intended to address the drift some pupils experience between the end of primary (Year 6) and GCSEs. She also set an ambition for 90% of children to meet the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics check, alongside signalling wider reform through a forthcoming schools white paper and a refreshed Ofsted framework.
The Year 8 assessment sits alongside the National Year of Reading, which the Department for Education and the National Literacy Trust will run from January 2026. Announced on 6 July 2025, the campaign aims to reverse the decline in reading for pleasure and is framed as part of the government’s plan to improve outcomes.
The National Year of Reading programme website confirms the campaign’s objectives and partnership model, highlighting planned activity across schools, libraries, businesses and community organisations during 2026.
Complementary measures flagged by the department include expanding support in Reception through the English Hubs programme, strengthening early years provision and family support via Best Start Family Hubs, new training for secondary teachers to support struggling readers, and a £1 million fund for schools with the greatest need to purchase reading programmes and resources.
For accountability, the assessment data will be visible to Ofsted but kept out of the public domain at school level. While ministers emphasise diagnostic use, the department has also referenced a new inspection framework and wider reforms such as school report cards and targeted improvement support, indicating that literacy remains a priority across the system. The precise interaction between the Year 8 data and inspection judgments has not been set out.
Operational details are still to come. Neither the press release nor the CST speech sets out the assessment specification, administration window, delivery model, reasonable adjustments, or data standards for school information systems. These are expected to be clarified through subsequent departmental guidance and the forthcoming white paper.
For families, the commitment to share results directly with parents and the statement that no revision is expected suggests schools should focus communication on what the outcome means and how support will be provided where needed, rather than on test preparation. This mirrors the approach taken for the Year 1 phonics check, where the emphasis is on early identification and targeted teaching.
Policy Wire analysis: The policy formalises a Key Stage 3 reading checkpoint without adding league‑table pressure. The effect will depend on clear test design, a sensible administration timetable, practical guidance on interventions following the results, and data handling that supports school improvement rather than creating new burdens. With the National Year of Reading and a 90% phonics ambition running alongside, the coherence of supporting guidance-and sufficient funding beyond the initial £1m-will be the test of delivery.