When pupils reach secondary school unable to read fluently, the issue is rarely a lack of effort — it is usually a gap in foundational reading skills.

Many older struggling readers have never fully secured:

• Accurate decoding
• Automaticity with sounds
• Confidence blending unfamiliar words

As a result, comprehension, vocabulary, and written work all suffer.

The Education Endowment Foundation is clear that phonics-based approaches remain effective beyond primary school when they are explicit, systematic, and carefully targeted. Phonics is not a “primary strategy”, it is a reading strategy.

The Problem With Traditional Secondary Interventions

In many secondary settings, pupils are offered:

• Generic comprehension tasks
• Reading aloud without decoding support
• Interventions that focus on content rather than skill

Without addressing decoding gaps, progress is often limited. Pupils may appear to cope, but they continue to struggle silently — particularly those with SEND or reading-related anxiety.

What Effective Secondary Phonics Looks Like

Effective phonics intervention for older pupils should:

• Use age-appropriate texts
• Avoid infant-style visuals and language
• Be delivered in short, focused sessions
• Include regular assessment to show progress

This aligns closely with EEF guidance, which emphasises targeted support and high-quality implementation over one-size-fits-all literacy approaches.

Moving Forward With Confidence

When phonics is taught in a respectful, structured way, older pupils can make rapid gains — not just in reading accuracy, but in confidence and engagement across the curriculum.

Phonics isn’t about going backwards.
It’s about giving pupils the tools they were missing — so they can finally move forward.

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/phonics