Evidence

of Impact

To what extent and how has the use

of the Essential Letters and Sounds

teaching program enabled teachers

to deliver consistent and structured

phonics teaching?

Background

Essential Letters and Sounds Australia has been adapted for Australian

with schools in the UK to gain an in-depth understanding of the

extent to which and how the Essential Letters and Sounds teaching

program enables teachers to deliver consistent and structured

phonics teaching.

Methodology

Oxford Impact is OUP’s approach to evaluating the impact that

our educational products and services have on teaching and

learning. At the heart of Oxford Impact is the Oxford Impact

Framework: a rigorous process for evaluating impact, developed

with the National Foundation for Research (NFER) and supported

teachers, literacy coordinators, and classroom teachers, who have

been using Essential Letters and Sounds in their schools for a minimum

of 6 months, with most respondents having used the program for

between 6 and 12 months prior to responding to the survey.

The results of this impact study are currently being tested for Essential

Letters and Sounds Australia, which is developed specically for the

Australian classroom context. The UK ndings provide important

evidence of impact for Australian educators because:

c The UK have made signicant reforms to the teaching of reading

over the past decade, aligned with the recommendations of the

c Teaching reading (and writing) using a systematic synthetic

phonics approach was supported with funding for validated

reading programs that were required to meet 16 core criteria.

Essential Letters and Sounds met all criteria and was validated by

the DfE.

c By 2021, England was ranked one of the top performers in the

Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) – ranked

fourth compared to Australia which ranked eighth – and with

English performance stable and Australian performance in decline

compared to 2016.

Key evaluation findings

99% (161) of teachers reported that Essential Letters and Sounds

7%

Not at all

1%

What works well?

We asked teachers to describe in their own words how Essential

Letters and Sounds has helped them deliver phonics teaching. Many

teachers praised the program for its:

the lessons.

has taken all the

stress out of planning phonics, all the hard work has been done,

and I’m ready to teach!” — Classroom Teacher

Structure and approach

95% (155) of teachers agreed that the lesson structure and approach

97% (158) of teachers agreed that the consistent terminology used

throughout Essential Letters and Sounds supports consistent and

structured phonics teaching across the whole school.

How does the program support consistent

and structured phonics teaching?

There is a breadth of resources available to support

interactive front-of-class presentations

help to deliver consistent and structured

phonics teaching.

88% (143) of teachers agreed that the classroom

resources help them to deliver Essential Letters and

Sounds with consistency.

When we asked teachers about the resources, almost

all teachers agreed that the classroom resources and

interactive front-of-class presentations support the

consistent delivery of the program.

Conclusion

This impact study found strong evidence that Essential Letters and

Essential Letters and Sounds Australia has been developed for Australian

teachers and students. Adapted from a program developed by the Knowledge

Schools Trust and OUP in the UK, this Australian evidence-based teaching

program is designed to ensure all Australian students learn to read well and

make rapid progress, and that they keep up with their learning of reading,

rather than having to catch up.

teachers tell us that the

program enables them

to deliver consistent and

structured approach to

teaching phonics gives

students and teachers

consistency and security.

online and can be accessed

any time as part of the

have a deep understanding

of every student’s journey.”

Hunter, J., Stobart, A. & Haywood, A., 2024, The Reading Guarantee: How to give every

child the best chance of success, Grattan Institute, February.

Rose, J., 2006, Independent review of the teaching of early reading, UK Department for

Education and Skills, https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/id/eprint/5551/2/report.pdf

.