Phonics screening check practice (Year 1)

The phonics screening check is a short check that children in England take in June of Year 1.

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The tests

About these tests

The phonics screening check is a short check that children in England take in June of Year 1. Each child reads 40 words aloud to an adult at school they know: 20 real words and 20 “pseudo-words” – made-up words, each shown with a picture of an imaginary creature (an “alien”). It checks whether children have learnt to decode words using phonics.

Our practice sets copy the shape of the check, with our own words. Your child reads each word aloud and you mark it: tap ✓ or ✗ and the page adds up the score. Notes under each word tell you what counts as right, including the different sensible ways to read an alien word.

There are also short phonics games to practise for the check, which your child can play alone: “Real or alien?” (spot the real word) and “Which letters?” (listen to a word and pick the letters for the missing sound). The games are not like the check itself – they are extra phonics practice.

Key facts

In 2027, schools give the check in the week beginning Monday 14 June. Pupils who turn 6 and finish the Year 1 English programme by the end of the school year (usually Year 1) take it. Source: 2027 phonics screening check: assessment and reporting arrangements (STA, published 12 October 2026)
The check is “designed to confirm whether pupils have learnt phonic decoding to an age-appropriate standard”. Pupils read 20 real words and 20 pseudo-words aloud to a check administrator they know. Source: 2027 phonics screening check: assessment and reporting arrangements (STA, published 12 October 2026)
The 40 words are in two sections of 20. Section 1 has simpler word structures (for example CVC and CCVC) and simpler letter-sound correspondences. Section 2 has more complex structures, including two-syllable words, and adds split digraphs (such as a–e), trigraphs (air, igh) and alternative pronunciations. Source: Phonics screening check: structure and content of the check (STA, gov.uk)
Each pseudo-word is shown with a picture of an imaginary creature, so children do not try to match it to a word they already know. Source: Phonics screening check: structure and content of the check (STA, gov.uk)
In the check’s design, section 1 has 8 real words and 12 pseudo-words; section 2 has 12 real words and 8 pseudo-words. Our practice sets follow the same pattern. Source: Assessment framework for the development of the year 1 phonics screening check (STA, gov.uk)
Official scoring guidance says that for real words the child has to use the correct sound for that word, and for pseudo-words “all plausible alternative and regional pronunciations are acceptable”. Source: 2026 phonics screening check: scoring guidance (STA)
The threshold mark (the mark needed to meet the expected standard) is published each June after the check. It was 31 out of 40 in 2026 and 32 out of 40 in 2025. STA says the mark can change slightly from year to year because the difficulty of the check can vary slightly. Source: Phonics screening check: 2026 materials (STA, published 22 June 2026); 2025 materials (published 23 June 2025); GOV.UK: Phonics screening check 2025 materials
The 2027 threshold mark will be published on Monday 28 June 2027. Source: 2027 phonics screening check: assessment and reporting arrangements (STA, published 12 October 2026)
Head teachers must tell parents their child’s score. Year 2 pupils who did not meet the expected standard in Year 1, or who have not taken the check before, take it in June of Year 2. Source: 2027 phonics screening check: assessment and reporting arrangements (STA, published 12 October 2026)
The DfE keeps a list of validated systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) programmes, each with its own order for teaching sounds. In May 2021 the DfE said schools needing to improve their phonics teaching would be “strongly encouraged” to use a validated programme, “although this will not be mandatory”. Source: DfE Education Hub blog: the removal of Letters and Sounds 2007 from the validated list (17 May 2021); GOV.UK: Choosing a phonics teaching programme
Every word in our practice sets uses only the letter-sound correspondences listed for that section in STA’s assessment framework – the same letter-sound correspondences the real check uses – and follows the framework’s word shapes for each section. Source: Assessment framework for the development of the year 1 phonics screening check (STA, gov.uk)

How to use these tests

Do one practice set at a time, when your child is fresh. A set takes about 10 minutes.
Before you start, explain that some words are alien names, so they will not sound like real words.
Do not help during the set. Afterwards, look at the words that were missed together and practise those sounds.
Keep it light. Short, regular practice helps more than long sessions.
This is practice only. The score is not standardised and cannot predict a result in the real check.

Plan the teaching

Use these tests for practice at home or in class. Plan lessons with the free Lesson Plan Maker.

Suggest a test – or, after a test, use “Report a problem with this question” on the answers screen.

Official sources

Classfern is not connected with the Standards and Testing Agency or the Department for Education. All words are our own.