English pupils leapfrogged those in high-performing countries like Finland and Poland, while pupils in Singapore topped the league table, followed by Hong Kong and Russia.
Despite the improved ranking, England's score was little changed since the last round of assessments in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls), which took place in 2016, with its average dropping marginally from 559 to 558.
Other countries' scores fell significantly over a period of widespread disruption to education due to the Covid pandemic. Only 11 of the 43 countries that tested pupils of the same age in Pirls 2021 avoided significant declines, including England.
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