This report presents key findings of the 2018 national assessment of early grade reading skills in Chichewa, a core language for reading and language development in Malawi. This early grade reading assessment (EGRA) for Standards 1 and 3 was conducted in June 2018 in a nationally representative sample of 86 Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) primary schools. The 1,720 tested students—860 Standard 1 and 860 Standard 3 learners, half boys and half girls in each standard from each school—were randomly selected during visits to each school. The results are nationally representative of Standard 1 and 3 learners of MoEST primary schools in Malawi.