Y1 Phonics Screening Check
Year 1 Phonics Screening Check
The phonics screening check is a short, light-touch assessment to confirm whether individual children have learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard.
It will identify the children who need extra help so they are given support by their school to improve their reading skills. They will then be able to retake the check so that schools can track children until they are able to decode. This us undertaken in all state schools in Year 1 and for children in year 2 who did not meet the year 1 standard. They are administered internally by teachers.
The phonics screening check is a short and simple assessment of phonic decoding. It consists of a list of 40 words, half real words and half non-words, which Year 1 children read to a teacher. Administering the assessment usually takes between four and nine minutes per child.
Non-words (made up words) are included because they will be new to all children, so there won’t be a bias to those with a good vocabulary knowledge or visual memory of words. Children who can read non-words should have the skills to decode almost any unfamiliar word. The non-words are presented alongside a picture of an imaginary creature, and children can be told the non-word is the name of that type of creature. This helps children to understand the non-word should not be matched to their existing vocabulary.
The threshold in 2018 was 32 words out of 40 (80%) and is likely to be similar in future years but it can change slightly.
All children need to be able to identify sounds associated with different letters, and letter combinations, and then blend these sounds together to correctly say the word on the page. The same skill is needed whether the word is a real word or a non-word.
The words gradually get harder through the check as the combinations of letters become more complicated. As long as the child has said approximately 32 out of the 40 words correctly, they will be considered to have met the standard.
Children should not realise that they are being formally assessed. The check should be seen as part of their everyday phonics activities and not as a test.
Please access the files below to practise past phonics screening checks with your child.
