Across the English-speaking world, too many children are struggling to read. In the USA, Australia and the UK, the numbers are 38%, 20% and 20% respectively.
For decades, researchers and scientists have been trying to understand why — and what to do about it. Their answer has been consistent: children learn to read best when they are taught phonics systematically and explicitly. Governments around the world have taken that finding seriously.
The case for synthetic phonics has been built up over many decades. It draws on research from cognitive science, neuroscience, linguistics and real classroom studies. The conclusion is the same every time.
The US National Reading Panel reviewed every major approach to teaching children to read. Their verdict was clear:
Systematic phonics instruction produces significant benefits for students in kindergarten through 6th grade and for children having difficulty learning to read.”
The National Reading Panel, 2000
Classroom studies have backed this up. One of the most widely cited is a seven-year study by Johnston and Watson. They followed children taught with synthetic phonics across a county in Scotland. The results matched what researchers elsewhere were finding:
The synthetic phonics program was by far the most effective in developing literacy skills. It led to children from lower socio-economic backgrounds performing at the same level as children from advantaged backgrounds for most of their time in primary school. It also led to boys performing better than or as well as girls.”
Johnston & Watson, 2005
Seven years later, those same children were still well ahead of their peers in both reading and spelling:
The gains made in word reading in Primary 1 had increased 6 fold by the end of Primary 7, going from 7 months to 3 years 6 months ahead of chronological age. The gain in spelling was 4.5 fold, going from 7 months to 1 year 9 months ahead of chronological age.”
Johnston & Watson, 2005
The research also shows what happens when phonics is not taught well. Children fall behind. The gap between those who can decode and those who can’t grows wider over time. For children from disadvantaged backgrounds, or those with learning difficulties, good phonics teaching isn’t just helpful — it can be the difference between learning to read or not.
Governments have looked at the evidence and acted. Across the English-speaking world, synthetic phonics is now embedded in national curricula, mandated in schools and backed by investment in teacher training.
Australia’s National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy set the direction back in 2005:
The Committee recommends that teachers provide systematic, direct and explicit phonics instruction so that children master the essential alphabetic code-breaking skills required for foundational reading proficiency.”
National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy, 2005
Since then, the policy has spread across every state and territory. The NSW English K–6 Syllabus, mandatory in all NSW primary schools since 2023, puts systematic synthetic phonics at the core of early reading. Queensland, South Australia and Victoria have followed with their own requirements.
The Australian Government has also invested in a national Year 1 Phonics Check and an online Literacy Hub to support schools and families.
In 2006, the Rose Report looked at how children were being taught to read in England. The findings led to synthetic phonics becoming mandatory in all schools. Schools that don’t teach it will fail their OFSTED inspection.
Synthetic phonics offers the vast majority of young children the best and most direct route to becoming skilled readers and writers.”
The Rose Report, 2006
The results have followed. When England introduced its Year 1 Phonics Screening Check in 2012, just 58% of children met the expected standard. That figure has risen significantly, showing what a consistent, phonics-first approach can achieve.
The US has seen a major shift in recent years. The majority of states have now passed laws requiring schools to use evidence-based reading instruction, with phonics at the core. This is known as the Science of Reading movement.
Mississippi is perhaps the best example of what change looks like in practice. In 2013 the state ranked 49th out of 50 for fourth-grade reading. It then overhauled its approach — retraining teachers, embedding reading coaches in schools and putting phonics at the heart of K–3 teaching. Today Mississippi ranks among the top ten states for reading, and leads the nation when results are adjusted for demographics. Louisiana and Alabama have seen similar gains after making comparable changes. States that haven’t shifted have continued to fall behind.
The momentum is clear. Most US states have now passed Science of Reading legislation, and the goal is the same everywhere: make sure every child gets the phonics teaching the evidence shows they need.