Closing the Literacy Gap Before Summer: Practical Strategies for Secondary Schools

As the summer term begins, secondary schools face a familiar dual focus: supporting students through exam preparation while laying the groundwork for the next academic year. Alongside this sits a persistent challenge, addressing literacy gaps that can limit progress across the curriculum.

For many schools, this is not a new issue. Students often arrive in secondary education without the reading, writing and vocabulary skills needed to fully access subject content. Without the right support, these gaps can widen over time, affecting both confidence and attainment.

But the summer term offers a valuable opportunity. With a clear, focused approach, schools can strengthen literacy in ways that support immediate outcomes while building momentum for September.

One of the most important messages from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) guidance is that literacy is not confined to English lessons, it underpins success in every subject.

Students are expected to read complex texts in science, interpret sources in history and decode multi-step problems in maths. When literacy skills are secure, students are better able to access, understand and apply what they have learned. When they are not, even capable learners can struggle to demonstrate their knowledge.

This becomes particularly important in the summer term. For KS4 students, it is about applying knowledge under exam conditions. For KS3, it is about consolidating learning and preparing for what comes next.

1. Prioritising Vocabulary for Exam Success

Vocabulary sits at the heart of understanding. Students need to be able to interpret exam questions accurately and use subject-specific language with confidence in their responses.

In the final term, small, consistent actions can make a noticeable difference. In practice, this might include:

• Explicit teaching of key subject vocabulary
• Revisiting tier 2 and tier 3 words in revision sessions
• Modelling how vocabulary is used in high-quality answers
• Applying morphological knowledge across multiple subjects.

A consistent, cross-curricular approach ensures students encounter and use vocabulary in meaningful contexts, helping it stick.

 

2. Supporting Students to Read Complex Texts

Many of the challenges students face in exams stem from difficulty accessing the text itself. Whether it is a science explanation, a historical source or a GCSE question, comprehension is key.

Teachers can support this by making reading processes visible and intentional. Modelling how to approach an unfamiliar passage, pausing to clarify meaning and encouraging students to summarise or question what they have read, all help to build confidence. Over time, these strategies enable students to tackle increasingly complex material with greater independence.

 

3. Strengthening Writing for GCSE Outcomes

Writing is often where gaps in understanding become most visible. Students may have the knowledge, but without the ability to structure and communicate it clearly, their attainment can suffer.
Effective strategies include:

• Breaking extended writing tasks into manageable steps
• Providing clear models of high-quality responses
• Using scaffolds (e.g. sentence starters, planning frameworks) where needed

Importantly, writing should be closely linked to reading. Students benefit from seeing and breaking down how strong written responses are constructed before attempting their own.

 

4. Using Structured Talk to Deepen Understanding

Opportunities for purposeful talk can have a powerful impact on learning. When students are encouraged to explain their thinking, justify their ideas and respond to others, they begin to organise their understanding more effectively.

In the context of revision, this might involve short, paired discussions, verbal rehearsal of answer or structured group work. These moments do not need to be time-consuming to be effective, but they can significantly improve students’ ability to articulate their thinking when it matters most.

 

5. Providing Targeted Support Where It Matters Most

Alongside whole-class approaches, targeted support remains essential. Some students will require additional help to develop the foundational literacy skills needed to access the curriculum with confidence.

The summer term is a critical window for this. Focused intervention can help students make meaningful progress before end of year assessments, while also supporting those who are at risk of falling further behind. For schools preparing to welcome a new Year 7 cohort, it is also an opportunity to begin addressing gaps early, setting the tone for a stronger start in September.

 

While attention is naturally on current students, the summer term is also a time to look forward. Many pupils will transition to secondary school without the literacy skills needed to fully engage with the curriculum from day one.

By prioritising early identification and support, schools can ease this transition. Helping students build confidence in reading and vocabulary before they arrive or in those first crucial weeks, can have a lasting impact on their progress across subjects.

At The Compton School in London, Lexia plays a central role in preparing students for the move into secondary education. Before the summer, prospective Year 7 students take cognitive assessments, allowing staff to identify potential reading barriers. During transition day visits, students complete the Lexia Auto Placement test, and parents are introduced to the program to encourage engagement at home. Each student receives a Lexia licence and is invited to a summer challenge to log minutes, helping to prevent the “summer slide” and giving them confidence in their reading before they even start secondary school.

Once Year 7 begins, Lexia is embedded into the school timetable through breakfast clubs and personal development sessions, ensuring students achieve recommended usage without feeling pressured. Supported by Lexia prefects and structured interventions, students develop reading skills, build confidence and stay motivated through small rewards and recognition. Emily Walker-Nolan, Assistant Headteacher, notes that this approach allows the school to identify needs early and gives students a strong foundation, setting them up for success from day one of secondary school.

Sustainable improvement in literacy does not come from one-off initiatives. It is built through consistent, whole-school approaches that are embedded in everyday teaching.

When departments align around shared strategies, and teachers are supported with practical, evidence-informed approaches, literacy becomes the foundation for learning. Over time, this consistency helps students develop the skills they need not just for exams, but for lifelong learning.

At LexiaUK, we recognise the pressures schools face, particularly in the final term of the year. Supporting students to make progress now, while preparing for the future, requires solutions that are both effective and manageable.

Our adaptive, personalised programmes are designed to support targeted literacy development, helping students strengthen reading, build vocabulary and gain the confidence they need to succeed across the curriculum.

As you look ahead to the rest of the summer term and beyond, having the right support in place can make a meaningful difference.

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