Phonics screening check

What is the phonics screening check?

All year 1 pupils in England take the phonics screening check. It’s done in school by our staff.

The check is made up of 40 words, and usually lasts 5 to 10 minutes. Some words are real words and others are nonsense, or ‘alien’, words that help to show if pupils can work out how to decode words they haven’t seen before.

The check helps us to see:

• How pupils are progressing in phonics
• Where to provide additional teaching and support

The check may not be appropriate for some pupils. We’ll let you know if we think this is the case for your child.
 

When will it be happening?

Year 1 will do the phonics screening check in the week of 9th to 13th June 2025.

Do we get to know the results?

We have to report the results to Derbyshire County Council. We’ll also let you know the results in your child’s final end of year report.

If your child does not meet the expected standard in the check, they’ll get to have another go next year. It’s normally nothing to worry about.

The results don’t count towards any league tables.
 

Do we need to prepare at home?

No – your child is being taught phonics at school and no special work at home is needed.

However, you can always help your child by:

• Reading to and with them
• Playing sound and reading games
• Teaching them new words, and showing them how they’re written
   

Contact the school

If you have any questions or want to talk further about the phonics screening check, please do not hesitate to contact school via email and we will get back to you.