The reading comprehension of Year 1 primary school children is beyond what is expected for their age, according to a study.

The independent study, based on reading records of more than 150,220 children, shows that primary schools have made impressive gains in improving literacy standards but, as they move toward secondary school stage, reading levels decline year on year.

The data was gathered by Professor Keith Topping of the University of Dundee and revealed that Year 1 students at primary school had a very high reading comprehension even on some books of high readability for this year. The same applied to students in Years 2 and 3. However by Year 4 the 'average percent correct' score for the assessment began to decline.

Annie Mauger, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), who provided the foreword for the 2011 report, entitled 'What Kids Are Reading: The Book-Reading Habits of Pupils in British Schools 2011', commented: "Every child needs the best possible start in reading...The more tools they can be given to support the process the better."

Dirk Foch, MD of Renaissance Learning, which commissioned the survey explained: "With literacy rates in the UK declining in comparison to other countries, it is promising news that the levels at which the children surveyed read in Years 1-4 are above what would be age-appropriate."