Ofsted highlights research which did not back synthetic phonics, in support of its position backing synthetic phonics

Ofsted appears to be on the back foot about the evidence base used in support of one element of its controversial recent “Bold Beginnings” report on the early years, after this website asked it for the detail behind one of its statements.

Education Uncovered asked the inspectorate for the evidence behind its statement that all primary schools should teach reception pupils to read through “systematic synthetic phonics”.

Yet, staggeringly perhaps, the piece of research which Ofsted highlighted seems not to have found evidence in favour of synthetic phonics, a summary of that study having stated instead that a “variety of approaches” are effective.

Ofsted’s advice that all schools should follow systematic synthetic phonics features in the first in a list of recommendations on page seven of “Bold Beginnings”. In full, that reads: “All primary schools should make sure that the teaching of reading, including systematic synthetic phonics, is the core purpose of the Reception Year”.

Lower down this page, in the seventh bullet point under what initial teacher education providers should do, the report states that they should: