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ALL seven-year-old primary school pupils in England will have to sit a national reading test under Tory plans to be announced this week.

David Cameron will propose scrapping the present arrangements where children are assessed by their teachers and instead require them to sit an externally set test in reading.

He also wants Ofsted, the government inspectorate, to check schools are using “tried and tested” teaching methods such as synthetic phonics, where children learn to connect sounds with letters or groups of letters.

The proposals will come in a consultation paper to be unveiled on Tuesday. Maths and science will continue to be assessed by teachers without external tests.

After seven years of primary education one in five children are still struggling with literacy, according to official figures. But this rises to 40% of children who are eligible for free school meals.

Studies cited by the Tories also show that few children who fail to achieve the required reading standards by the age of 11 go on to attain five good GCSEs five years later.

A project in West Dunbartonshire has underlined how traditional methods of teaching embodied in synthetic phonics can transform the chances of children from areas of real deprivation. The area had a functional illiteracy level of 28% in 1997, but it was practically eliminated by 2006.

A Conservative spokesman said: “Evidence shows children of high ability from poor backgrounds are overtaken by children of lower ability from richer backgrounds at primary school. The gap widens as they pass through the education system. Conservative education policy will focus on how to make opportunity more equal by narrowing this gap.”

Writing in The Sunday Times today, Michael Gove, the shadow minister for schools and children, says: “It is only once children have learnt to read that they can go on to read to learn . .

“If we are to tackle poor behaviour and ensure more young people stay on in education, there is no more crucial task than teaching them to read properly in the earliest years.”

However, Ed Balls, the schools secretary, claimed the Tories were “turning the clock back” by returning to externally set tests, while the government itself was promoting synthetic phonics.

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