The Department for Education has recently set out proposals to introduce a mandatory reading test for pupils at the end of Year 8, as part of its wider Schools White Paper reforms. Once implemented, this would mark the first national statutory assessment at Key Stage 3 since 2008.
The intention behind the proposal is clear: to gain a better understanding of pupils’ reading ability at a crucial stage in their secondary education and to ensure that reading difficulties are identified early enough to make a meaningful difference. The test is expected to assess reading fluency and comprehension, helping schools understand whether pupils are well-equipped to access the increasingly demanding curriculum they face as they move towards GCSEs.
While results are expected to be reported nationally rather than used for school-level accountability, the announcement has prompted important conversations across the sector about how secondary schools support reading development, particularly for pupils who arrive in Year 7 already behind.
KS3 Reading: Why now is the time to strengthen foundations
Strong reading skills are fundamental to success in every subject. When pupils struggle to read fluently, or to understand what they are reading, the impact is felt far beyond English lessons. Vocabulary gaps, slow or effortful reading and limited comprehension all act as barriers to learning across the curriculum.
By Year 8, many pupils who find reading difficult have been struggling for several years. Without targeted support these challenges can become entrenched. This is why a renewed focus on foundational reading skills at Key Stage 3 is so important, not as an ‘add-on’, but as an integral part of whole-school literacy provision.
Foundational skills include:
- Decoding and word recognition, enabling pupils to read accurately and confidently
- Fluency, supporting pace, accuracy and expression
- Vocabulary knowledge, particularly academic and subject-specific language
- Comprehension and inference, allowing pupils to engage meaningfully with complex texts
Strengthening these foundations supports pupils not only in any formal assessment, but in their day-to-day learning and long-term outcomes.
What should secondary schools do next?
1. Take a Whole-School Approach to reading
Reading support is most effective when it’s consistent and reinforced across the school. Many secondary schools already carry out assessments when pupils enter Year 7. The key is to use this data strategically to guide teaching, intervention and curriculum planning.
This could include:
- Map reading skills across subjects: Identify where literacy is explicitly taught and other areas where it can be reinforced, such as science, history or maths.
- Set shared expectations: Ensure all staff use the same terminology, model reading strategies and reinforce key skills, so pupils experience consistent approaches in every classroom.
- Use data to target support: Analyse assessment results to identify pupils who need extra help and ensure interventions are tailored to their specific reading gaps.
- Monitor progress regularly: Track the impact of whole-school strategies and interventions, adjusting approaches to meet emerging needs.
2. Focus on foundational skills
Currently, the format of the Year 8 reading assessment remains unclear. Officials are still considering what form the new statutory check will take and what it will assess although it is expected to be externally marked.
Given this uncertainty, schools are best placed to focus on strengthening the foundational reading skills that underpin success across the secondary curriculum and are most likely to be relevant regardless of how the assessment is ultimately designed.
This could include:
- Structured, targeted support for pupils who continue to struggle with decoding.
- Regular and deliberate opportunities to practise and develop reading fluency.
- Explicit vocabulary instruction across subjects, supporting both comprehension and curriculum access.
- Guided teaching of comprehension strategies such as summarising, questioning and inferring meaning from texts.
There is a strong case for any national reading check at KS3 to help identify pupils with gaps in these core areas, while remaining closely aligned to the demands of the secondary curriculum. Evidence-based approaches that address foundational skills can therefore play a crucial diagnostic and instructional role, particularly for pupils who have previously struggled to keep pace, while ensuring schools are prepared to respond effectively once greater clarity emerges.
3. Use assessment to inform support
Ongoing, formative assessment plays a vital role in understanding pupils’ reading needs. Short, regular checks can help identify specific gaps and ensure that support is well targeted.
Where additional intervention is needed, programmes that adapt to pupils’ individual reading profiles can be particularly effective. Diagnostic approaches that pinpoint skill strengths and areas for development allow schools to implement, deploy support and track progress over time.
For example, structured literacy programmes designed for older pupils, such as Lexia PowerUp Literacy, focus on identifying gaps and building key skills, including decoding, fluency, vocabulary, grammar, and comprehension. These programmes are age-appropriate and responsive to individual needs, supporting pupils in strengthening their reading skills alongside their wider curriculum learning
4. Embed reading across the curriculum
Effective reading support shouldn’t narrow what pupils learn; it should enhance access to the full curriculum. Every subject offers opportunities to reinforce and extend reading skills, helping pupils become confident, independent learners.
Approaches to this include:
- Model reading strategies explicitly: Show pupils how to approach subject-specific texts. For example, think aloud when interpreting a diagram in science or when unpacking a historical source, demonstrating how to identify key information and make connections.
- Teach key vocabulary in context: Highlight and explain subject-specific terminology as part of lessons and revisit it regularly to deepen understanding. Encourage pupils to explore morphology like word roots, prefixes and suffixes to help them decode unfamiliar words and make connections across subjects. Tools like vocabulary journals, word maps or flashcards can support retention and help pupils apply new words independently.
- Support comprehension of complex language: Break down long sentences, challenging phrasing, or unfamiliar diagrams and charts, showing pupils strategies for making sense of them independently. For example, when faced with a dense historical source text, highlight key dates, underline cause-and-effect phrases and show pupils how to rephrase sentences in their own words.
- Create purposeful reading opportunities: Encourage pupils to actively engage with texts through structured tasks that require thinking, analysis, and reflection. For example:
- Discussion: After reading a passage, ask pupils to debate an interpretation or predict what might happen next, encouraging justification with evidence from the text.
- Note-taking: Use graphic organisers such as mind maps or tables to summarise key information, compare ideas or track character traits and themes. PowerUp’s Resource Hub includes ready-made templates to support here.
- Summarising activities: Have pupils write a short paragraph in their own words explaining the main idea or sequence of events, or create a “key points” summary to practise condensing information.
Targeted support for KS3 ahead of the Year 8 Assessment Reform
The proposed Year 8 reading test highlights an area that has always been central to pupil success: ensuring strong disciplinary reading skills across Key Stage 3. For schools, it’s an opportunity to reflect on how reading is supported, how foundational to GCSE-ready literacy skills are developed and how interventions are targeted and monitored over time.
Structured, evidence-informed approaches can make a real difference. By identifying gaps in decoding, fluency, vocabulary, grammar and comprehension early, schools can provide timely support that prepares pupils not just for assessments, but for the wider curriculum and their future learning.
Programmes like Lexia PowerUp Literacy offer diagnostic-led, personalised support that targets the specific reading skills pupils need to build confidence and independence. PowerUp can help schools pinpoint and address gaps, track progress and provide actionable data for teachers, giving staff the tools to intervene effectively and pupils the opportunity to strengthen their reading at their own pace.
Want to know more?
If you’re looking to ensure every pupil has the skills and confidence to succeed in reading, LexiaUK can help your design a targeted, data-driven strategy that supports both day-to-day classroom learning and preparation for the Year 8 reading test.
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