Three years on from the introduction of the government’s statutory phonics screening check, 100,000 more youngsters are now “on track to become excellent readers”.

According to data from the Department of Education, the initiative, which assesses the reading abilities of a child under the age of six – all pupils in Year 1 are required to undergo the appraisal – is proving to be a success.

Since 2012, the number of six-year-olds achieving the expected standard has improved by 16 percentage points to 74 per cent.

As a result of the phonics reading check, the reading gap between children from disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers has shortened by one percentage point over the last two years.

School reform minister Nick Gibb said that for too long now, thousands of children have been allowed to “slip through the net and fall behind in reading”, which has decreased their chances of realising their potential in school and beyond.

“This government’s drive to tackle illiteracy is putting a stop to that, and these results show that more and more schools are using phonics well, in order to get their pupils reading properly,” he continued.

“Today’s figures provide irrefutable evidence that our plan for education is working for young people across Britain with 100,000 more six-year-olds now on track to become proficient readers as a result of our relentless emphasis on phonics. Had we not done so, those pupils would still be struggling today.”

The phonics check also acts as a useful tool to spot children who are struggling to gain the skills expected at this stage of education.

The assessment, which takes the form of a list of 40 words and non-words that are read back to a teacher, takes place in maintained schools, academies and free schools.

In addition to the introduction of this check, the coalition government earmarked £20 in funding to help schools develop the skills and resources needed to teach phonics.

Commenting on the results, Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said that while phonics is a system that is proving effective in primary school education, it has had an “unwelcome side-effect” – the teaching of so-called “nonsense words”.

"The gap between pupils from rich and poor families remains wide,” he explained. This gap will not close until we also focus on factors beyond technical skills - time spent reading at home and with parents, range of vocabulary and the amount of conversation children hear.”